A bird can not set my agenda : the role of source types on credibility in agenda setting on Twitter

Abstract

The literature on McCombs and Shaw's 1972 theory of agenda setting has a robust history with over 425 empirical studies as of McCombs and Reynolds 2009 review. The rise of social media has allowed scholarship on agenda setting to expand. Research, however, has not examined whether agenda setting and credibility vary based on the Twitter source. An 18-day experiment was conducted at a mid-sized Midwestern university to examine the agenda setting effects of three different Twitter sources based on Manheim and Albritton's 1984 three agenda conceptualization: media, government and peer. Results demonstrated no agenda setting effects; however, a mock government organization was found as more credible than a mock news organization or peer. This indicates a shift in credibility paradigms of the early 21st century, as political figures and media outlets combat each other's credibility. These findings warrant further examination of the credibility of different sources on Twitter, and how they fit into the broader media landscape.