THE RISE AND IMPACT OF YOUTH CITIZEN

JOURNALISM A SECOND-YEAR DMC RESEARCH PROJECT

MASS MEDIA RESEARCH (SC7738) CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR(SB0076)

A quantitative research report into the effect of citizen journalism on youth purchasing behaviours

and political opinions

DMC 2A 01

Calista Goh 1041774

Desiree Ann Wee 1000494

Karmaine Tan 1041790

Nureen Hanisah 1041758

Shane Tan 1058976

Yuling Tan 1041336

Table of Contents

..3

8 1.1 ..8

1.2 8

Introduction .. ..

2.1 9

2.2 Literature Review ..11 Research Methodology .20

3.1 Research design .20

3.2 ....20

3.3 Questionnaire design ..20

3.4 Fieldwork and Data Preparation 20

3.5 Analysis Techniques ..21

Consumer Profile ...22

4.1 Analysis of Demographic Factors ...22

4.2 Analysis of Psychographics Factors ...26

4.3 Decision- 33

4.4 Attitude Formation and ..37

Findings 42

5.1 Examining the impact of Citizen Journalism on youth political

participation .42

5.2 How Citizen Journalism has shaped youth political opinions ... .45

5.3 The impact of Citizen Journalism on the awareness of opposition

..46

5.4 The influence Citizen Journalism and traditional media has on youth

.47

5.5 The Rise of Citizen ..48

5.6 ...50

5.7 Rate of Usage of Citizen Journalism VS Traditional Media amongst

..

5.8 The influence of age on preferred medium for ....56

5.9 ..57

Conclusion and Recommendations 59

6.1 Conclusion 59

6.2 Recom

Limitations of Study ..61 References .64

List of Illustrations Figures

(Source: The Nielson Company)

Fig. 2: Overall cumulative newspaper coverage of the political parties a during 2011

Election Campaign period (Source: MARUAH, Media Monitoring English language

print media, 2011)

Fig. 3. Sentiment of netizens on political parties in the 4 weeks leading up to the

election (Source: Grayling, Plugged-in Report, 2011)

Fig. 4. Total English newspaper coverage of political parties in column inches

(Source: MARUAH, Media Monitoring English language print media, 2011)

Fig. 5. World Press Freedom index 2010 ranking of various countries (Source:

Reporters Without Borders: 2010 World Press Freedom Index)

Fig. 6 Sites which mention the PAP and WP most frequently

Fig. 7 Citizenship status of respondents

Fig. 8 Age groups

Fig. 9 Gender percentages

Fig. 10 Marital Status

Fig. 11 Ethnic Groups

Fig. 12 First Language of respondents

Fig. 13 Professional Status

Fig. 14 Education levels of respondents

-time jobs

Fig. 16 Current Work Status of respondents

Fig. 17 Income of non-students

Fig 18. The average number of hours spent on the Internet daily and the number of

hours spent on citizen journalism platforms by heavy users who use them every day

Fig. 19 Reasons why people view citizen journalism content

Fig. 20 Percentage of youths who own smart devices

Fig. 21 Percentage of respondents who view, provide or share CJ content with their

smart devices

Fig. 22 Reasons why people view content with their smart devices

Fig. 23 Percentage of respondents who purchased products/services after obtaining

information from citizen journalism sites

Fig. 24 Factors that influence youth purchasing habits

Fig. 25 Percentage of respondents who use pseudonyms online

Fig. 26 Why respondents use pseudonyms

Fig. 27 Frequency of STOMP usage on a weekly basis as a place for Singaporeans to

contribute news tip-offs, photos or videos

Fig. 28 Percentage of respondents who agree

acceptable to capture and publicise information, photos or videos of others on citizen

journalism websites without their approval

Fig 29. Stages that consumers go through in their decision making process.

Fig. 30 Reasons why youths use smart devices to view, provide or share content

Fig. 31 Evaluation and Selection of Alternatives

Fig. 32 Top 5 factors that influence youth purchasing decisions

Fig. 33 The frequency and rate of usage of Twitter by survey respondents

Fig 34. Competence of CJ vs TJ

Fig. 35 The top three social media sites used for citizen journalism

Fig. 36 Percentage of respondents who agreed and disagreed that citizen journalism

has increased their interest in Singapore politics

Fig. 37 Percentage of respondents that agreed or disagreed that citizen journalism had

shaped their opinion on the 2011 GE

journalism websites are not

Fig. 39 Percentage of respondents who voted whom agreed that citizen journalism has

played an important role in the 2011 GE

Fig 40. Extent of influence citizen journalism and traditional media has on youth

purchasing habits

Fig.41 Top 3 reasons that motivate youths to share citizen journalism content

Fig. 42 World Press Freedom index 2010 ranking of various countries (Source:

Reporters Without Borders: 2010 World Press Freedom Index)

Fig. 43 Comparing the competence of Citizen Journalism with Traditional Journalism.

Fig 44. Usage of Citizen Journalism Platforms and Traditional Media

Fig. 45 Average number of hours a person spends on Citizen Journalism Platforms

and Traditional Media Platforms

Fig. 46 The weekly average usage of each medium by age group

Fig. 47 Top 5 reasons why youths view citizen journalism

Fig. 48 Top 5 reasons why youths share citizen journalism

Fig. 59 Percentage of respondents who agree that they are more willing to

view/participate in CJ websites that coincide with their personal views

Executive Summary 1.1 Research Objective To explore the rise of citizen journalism in Singapore, and to examine its impact (social and political) on the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours of Singapore youth. 1.2 Objectives The objectives of the report are to: 1. Examine the different definitions of citizen journalism in Singapore and globally. 2. Examine the ways in which people all over the world perceive and consume citizen journalism. 3. Examine the ways in which Singapore youth perceive and consume citizen journalism (eg. Usage patterns, habits etc.). 4. Understand how citizen journalism has impacted traditional media: has citizen journalism overtaken the role of traditional media in providing information? 5. Understand the social impact of citizen journalism on Singapore youth:

a. Has citizen journalism changed the lifestyle (eg. Entertainment; purchasing/communication habits etc.) of Singapore youth?

b. Has citizen journalism changed the way Singapore youth learn or acquire information?

6. Examine the profile of youth who engage in citizen journalism and their motivations for doing so. 7. Explore the topics/products/services that youth write about online. 8. Understand how Singapore youth define opinion leaders

a. What makes someone an opinion leader? 9. In line with the upcoming general elections in Singapore, examine the impact of citizen journalism on:

a. Youth political knowledge b. Youth political participation

Students from the Diploma in Media and Communication at Singapore Polytechnic conducted Quantitative Research by carrying out survey questionnaires on a total of 801 respondents in Singapore of between 18 35 years of age. Interviews were conducted by person-administered questionnaires. Interviewers were required to conduct the interview face-to-face and read out the questionnaire to the respondent and to record their answers.

Introduction 2.1 Background According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of Citizen Journalism is the collection, dissemination and analysis of news and information by the general public, especially by means of the Internet. It may be on a newsworthy event, or commenting on an ongoing issue, which may or may not have received coverage in the mainstream

widespread and often without barriers. The main reason for the conception of citizen journalism is the realization that traditional media sources such as reporters and broadcasters are no longer the exclusive supplier of information. The reliance on traditional media outlets for first hand information has gradually diminished. Now, many of these Big Media outlets are trying to harness the knowledge of their audience either through comments at the end of stories they post online or by creating citizen journalist databases of contributors or sources for stories. This allows for a greater public involvement towards the discourse of the public sphere (Glaser, 2006). The main feature of Citizen Journalism is that it is usually found online. There are two broad categories of Citizen Journalism Semi-Independent Citizen Journalism and Independent Citizen Journalism. Semi-Independent Citizen Journalism is where citizens contribute in some way to a professional publication. For example, posting comments alongside stories done by professional reporters, which can be sai

not involve traditional or professional news outlets. How Citizen Journalism Started The emergence of modern day citizen journalism began after journalists began to question the predictability of their coverage. Citizens began to look for news coverage outside the traditional media. With the rise of the World Wide Web in the 90s, information became easily accessible. A decade later, social networking sites and online news reporting made easy to express opinions and report information to the public. In our local context, Citizen Journalism in Singapore comprises mainly of Indepently-owned blogs and Semi-Independent Citizen Journalism sites such as STOMP. In

-based

became the first blogger to be threatened with a defamation lawsuit by the Singapore government (Lee & Kan, 2008, p.8) Later in June 2006, The Straits Times launched STOMP (Straits Times Online Mobile

the audience, delivered by mobile phone or email. A team of a dozen journalists select

where the content will appear. Almost all are published on the website, and only low-quality or offensive images are rejected. STOMP has since become one of the top Singaporean sites that Singaporeans visit for citizen journalism. In mid-2007, it already averaged 5 to 6 million page impressions per month, which rose to 7 million a year later (Quinn & Quinn-Allan, 2008, p.80). Aside from Semi-Independent Citizen Journalism sites, blogger groups like The Online Citizen (TOC), Temasek Review, Yawning Bread and Fridae (the last two

alternative discourse on important socio-political issues like domestic politics, rights of gays and senior citizens (© UNESCO, 2011). The Online Citizen (TOC), started in December 2006 as a community blog. It

of the news. The site gives exposure to controversial and taboo topics such as unemployment, transport and healthcare. These are issues that might otherwise be ignored by the traditional media. Citizen Journalism sites are shedding light on these issues as traditional media sources are forced to feature them after they become widely discussed and hotly debated on Citizen Journalism sites. According to Andrew Loh, the chief editor of TOC, if people start reading news on the internet that are not reported by the mainstream media, the latter would lose credibility. This can create pressure on the mainstream media to change for the better. Social Media as a Platform for Citizen Journalism Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are also used as a form of Citizen Journalism. People may report information by posting links or wall posts on

According to Nic Newman (2009), journalists are beginning to embrace social media tools like Twitter, Blogs and Fac

marry the culture of the web with their own organizational norms. Social media is known for its immediacy and convenience. Social Media users can publish content to the web almost instantaneously after an event. However, while Social Media can be used to first break a story, newspapers can be used to expand on the news in detail. In Singapore, the usage of Social Media services perpetuates its image as a technologically savvy and wired nation. According to Lur (2011), official data provided by Socialbakers.com and Sysomos Company reveal that Singapore has 2.35 million Facebook and 1.76 million Twitter users. With a population of 5.76 million in 2010 as measured by the Department of Statistics Singapore, that is an exceptionally high concentration of Facebook and Twitter users for Singapore.

2.2 Literature Review The Rise of Citizen Journalism on the Internet In recent years, the usage of citizen journalism as an outlet to share information has

become a reality for ancontributed to the rise of citizen journalism. Citizen Journalism and its Impact on Youth Purchasing Habits

(Source: The Nielson Company)

According to Fig. 1, 70% of respondents from 50 different countries trust consumer opinions posted online. This large percentage beats out traditional forms of advertising like TV advertisements, print advertisements and radio advertisements. Since citizen journalism is defined as the collection, dissemination and analysis of news and information by the general public, especially by means of the Internet, online consumer opinions are considered a form of citizen journalism. The trust the 70% of respondents have in online consumer opinions can be translated to citizen

national study, we wanted to find out if citizen journalism has the same impact on Singaporean youth purchasing habits.

Citizen Journalism in Relation to Social Media

freedom of expression by declaring, broadcasting, and amplifying their own

Arturo Valenzuela in a statementsocial media tools to benefit civil society by adding transparency to elections, allowing citizen journalists to report on otherwise under-covered stories, and overcoming repressive media environm(Martinelli, 2011, para. 3) Social media is therefore a part of citizen journalism.

inspiring readers to become citizen journalists by enabling them to easily publish and share information on a greater scalecontributed to the rise of citizen journalism as it serves as an additional platform for people to express their views and opinions and enables easy sharing of information.

-eight percent of youth in Singapore are engaged wiThe significant percentage of youths that are engaged in social media helped us derive our findings as it is social media is closely related to citizen journalism. Media Coverage of Political Parties during the 2011 General Elections There was a lot of media coverage on the political parties during the 2011 GE. However, the amount of coverage the different political parties received differed from one another. Fig. 2: Overall cumulative newspaper coverage of the political parties a during 2011 Election Campaign period (Source: MARUAH, Media Monitoring English language print media, 2011)

Looking at Fig. 2, the party that received the most newspaper coverage was the he PAP received over 4500 column inches in coverage

1000 column inches. The difference between coverage received by the two political parties is a substantial amount. From this graph, it can be deduced that newspaper coverage during the election campaign period was not equal. From the data we gathered about coverage, we decided to examine if citizen journalism played a part in

to offer alternative viewpoints. Advantages & Disadvantages of Citizen Journalism & Traditional Media Both citizen journalism and traditional media have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to reporting information and news. Firstly, social media, which is a citizen journalism platform, is able to give one access to raw journalism that is usually not available to mainstream media outlets, give one access to information faster, easier and in real time and makes it easier to share information with different networks (Finch, 2009, para. 4). Secondly, according to Alderman (2008, para. 4),

Thirdly, Hogg (2009, para. 3) states that, "We know there are many issues and communities we have not been able to fully cover within the confines of a newsroom budget, and we are excited to empower citizens within those communities to provide us news that will interest all our readers." Lastly, Mainwaring (2009, para. 2) writes

Citizen journalism has its drjournalism really isn't journalism, says Prof. Hazinski. It's gossip. Where's the training, experience, standards and skills essential to gather and report news? It opens up the news flow to the strothat news reported by citizen journalists might not be accurate as they are not trained journalists. Another drawback of citizen journalism is the accountability of the news reported; Alderman (2008, However, with a story generated by Everyman, where's the protection, the accountability? Where are the professionals to

Therefore, citizen journalism is a platform that enables access to news that is usually not reported in traditional media, is able to give people fast and easy access to information and is an outlet that allows people to express their views and opinions more freely, as compared to traditional media. Other benefits include the wider coverage that citizen journalism allows and that it is a low cost way to share information and get your opinions or views heard. However, its greatest drawbacks are accountability and credibility. Accountability as there is no organization to account for the information reported and professionals to validate the facts. It also falls short on credibility because of the lack experience and training citizen journalists have. On the other hand, traditional journalism is said to be more competent in the areas that citizen journalism falls short in. First of all, traditional journalism is reliable; it is

true journalism with reliability as its soul, as journalists devote their time in working for their stories. (Rosan, 2010, para. 3) Secondly, professional journalists have been trained to report the news; their training makes the information they report more dependable as compared to citizen journalists. "Learning how to use tools is different from saying everyone is a reporter. Anyone can make bread, but it's lousy bread. You need to spend time like a true, professional baker to learn to make good bread." (Krotoski, 2011). Another advantage of traditional journalism comes in the form of accountability. Traditional journalists work in professional news organizations that are able to account for the information that is reported and work with professionals who are able to validate the facts. Despite being more reliable and accountable, traditional journalism does not enable the immediacy citizen journalism allows. In some cases, news breaks out on social media sights before it is reported in the mainstream media. Secondly, traditional media does not allow for alternative viewpoints and opinions like some citizen journalism platforms (social media sites, forums etc.), as there are more gatekeepers and restrictions in traditional media. Impact of Citizen Journalism on the Singapore General Election 2011 The Singapore General Election (GE) 2011 has seen more people turning to online

Citizens utilized social media and citizen journalism platforms for access to a wider range of views and news on the general election. Here, we examine the impact of citizen journalism on the GE 2011. Fig. 3. Sentiment of netizens on political parties in the 4 weeks leading up to the election (Source: Grayling, Plugged-in Report, 2011)

Fig. 3 compares the online sentiment of netizens toward each political party.

he PAP was the party mentioned most

good news. While more supportive comments were made about the PAP than any other party, the incumbents were actually mentioned negatively

Conversely, opposition parties were

Fig. 4. Total English newspaper coverage of political parties in column inches (Source: MARUAH, Media Monitoring English language print media, 2011)

Compared to the coverage of the political parties by the mainstream media (Fig. 4), it is evident that traditional media sources are biased toward coverage on the ruling party, whereas citizen journalism platforms encompass more diverse views and opinions of the various political parties. A survey commissioned by Today newspaper also found per cent) of the respondents felt that the Internet increases the reach and influence of the Opposition, and 69.4 per cent felt the Internet offers a wider range of political

Additionally, an article from the citizen journalism site Temasek Review stated,

ear, about half

years old as compared to only 42 percent among those aged 60 and above In summary, citizens, especially younger citizens, feel that the Internet offers a platform for the Opposition, and provides a more diverse range of political viewpoints than traditional media. The issue of limited press freedom in Singapore is discussed below.

traditional media Fig. 5. World Press Freedom index 2010 ranking of various countries (Source: Reporters Without Borders: 2010 World Press Freedom Index)

Reporters Without Borders, the organization that conducted the World Press Freedom Index study, considers the number of journalists murdered, expelled or harassed, and the existence of a state monopoly on TV and radio, as well as the existence of censorship and self-censorship in the media, and the overall independence of media as well as the difficulties that foreign reporters may face when calculating the rankings. A total of 178 different countries and territories were included in the ranks. As shown in Fig. 5, Singapore is ranked at 137th. The other countries we decided to highlight are reflected in yellow. We picked out these countries as we felt that the comparison of rankings amongst them were more significant. Other first world countries with comparable economies to Singapore like the USA, Switzerland, Japan and Hong Kong have considerably higher Press Freedom rankings. Countries like Haiti and Indonesia, despite being less developed are still ranked above Singapore. In addition, countries like Egypt, Israel and Iraq that have experienced conflict and political instability, still experience higher Press Freedom levels than Singapore. This suggests that while Singapore enjoys economic and technological progress, it lacks relatively in freedom of speech and true democratic governance.

Citizen Journalism and Election Results Fig. 6 Sites which mention the PAP and WP most frequently.

name as shown in Fig. 6. Sizes are determined in relevance to the most frequent poster, or largest name. (Source: Grayling, Plugged-in Report, 2011)

n all cases, parties were mentioned most frequently by the online portals of traditional media outlets. Only the two parties who ultimately entered parliament received similar levels of conversation outside of news sites, accurately demonstrating

Grayling 2011, p.7)This suggests that citizen journalism might be a truer reflection of the beliefs and political stance of the average citizen, as opposed to traditional media outlets. Citizen Journalism and Selective Exposure In this section, we examine the concept of selective exposure, the concept that

sistent with their

(Fischer et al, 2008) and its relation to citizen journalism.

individuals tend to consume and share information online when i .

In the age of the Internet, youths increasingly rely on social media for news and information. However, social media sites are progressively making use of algorithms and data to create a more personalized experience.

For example, the Facebook news feed is

The user can change the settings of his or her news feed to hide particular photos, links, status updates or all activities from a particular friend without the need to

. (Brach, 2011).

calculates Suggestions based on the networks you are a part of, mutual friends, work and education information, contacts imported using the

Moradpour (2010) calls it the : No need to crawl yourself through the

repost, and you are guaranteed to find news relevant to your interests.

In the past, people relied on mainstream media to present us with an assortment of news. Online, especially with the usage of social media, news that we receive is now filtered and personalized to fit our interests, opinions and behaviour. The vast amount of information on the internet leads people to increasingly rely on tools that already know what we like to see. This reliance is one of the reasons the information streams within Facebook and Twitter now serve as the main news source for many of its users (Moradpour, 2010). In conclusion, when compared to traditional media, citizen journalism is more personalized and selective. Youths, whether consciously or on a behavioural level, select the information that they view, share, and receive. Uses and Gratification Theory and Citizen Journalism Although the mass media landscape has changed drastically in the past 50 years, Uses and Gratification and its application to mass media research has experienced a revival in the Internet age. Kokenge (2010, p.7) classified Web users into two basic categories: goal directed and experiential. A goal directed user specifically chooses certain content over other competing forms of content, while an experiential user simply surfs the Web with no specific goals or purpose in mind. These two categories are not mutually exclusive and a single user might move along a continuum between being a wholly experiential user and a wholly goal-directed user all within the same online session.

As people have little or no control over the content in traditional media, they are more experiential users than goal-directed users. However, as discussed in the above section, citizen journalism offers a more personalized and individually selective source than traditional media. Despite the wider array of information and opinions available online (as opposed to traditional media), the use of social media and other similar tools might filter information to only that which is relevant to the user and which the user is interested in. Hence, when viewing citizen journalism, users are more likely to be goal-directed and information seeking, as opposed to when using traditional media. This is in accordance with the Uses and Gratification Theory, which states that people specifically seek out information to suit their needs.

Research Methodology 3.1 Research design There was not much of an exploratory design as there was prior knowledge on the given subject. Similar surveys conducted by students in the past were used as sources and references to aid our research design. 3.2 Sampling Year 2 DMC students set out throughout the whole of Singapore on a given a task to survey people at random. With a given quota and a sampling size of 801, each group was to target only the youths, specifically ranging from the ages 15 to 35. This large sampling size allowed increased precision when estimating unknown parameters. Also, an equal number of male and female respondents were surveyed. Probability sampling was used in this survey. This is because participants surveyed were at random, without taking into account anything other than the specific gender and age group required. 3.3 Questionnaire design The questionnaire used was designed in such a way that it would receive information and answers needed from the respondents without being too literal and obvious. The questions used were brief and focused on the given issue. Simple language was used. A pre-test of the questionnaire was done in order to determine if the questions asked were suitable and met the time limit. It was also to further improve the questionnaire to ensure that respondents would be comfortable with opening up. Nominal measurements were included in the questionnaire. Labels for each level of a characteristic is to a distinct category. The numerical valueattribute uniquely. No ordering of the case is implied. It is therefore not an assumed

example, 1 stands for Male and 2 stands for Female, there is no one being better than the other. Forced-choice questions were used to identify how respondents make choices. From a series of questions on the same topic, a pattern of behaviour or attitude develops when the respondent was given 2 statements, one of which they had to make a choice. Open-ended questions were also used to allow respondents to include more information such as feelings, attitudes and understanding of the subject. That allowed for better access to the respondents' true feelings on the issue. 3.4 Fieldwork and Data Preparation The survey done was person-administered to the participants. Questions in the

platforms of acquiring information. That included both online platforms and traditional media platforms. That was later related to the factors that influence their purchasing behavior and their political views on the 2011 General Election. 3.5 Analysis Techniques Results were obtained from cross-tabulations between answers of certain aspects of the questionnaire we wanted to focus. Percentages and statistics were also obtained from the answers given by the respondents through descriptive statistics from the questionnaire.

Consumer Profile 4.1 Analysis of Demographic Factors Fig. 7 Citizenship status of respondents

Citizenship As shown in Fig. 7, Out of the 801 youths surveyed, 91.3% are Singaporeans whereas the remaining 8.7% are permanent residents.

Age Groups Fig. 8 Age groups

According to Fig. 8, all 801 respondents surveyed are youths ranging from the ages of 15-35. Majority of the respondents fall in the age category of 30-35. That makes up 27.5%. Fig. 9 Gender percentages

Gender 49.1% of our youths are males while 50.9% are females.

Fig. 10 Marital Status Marital Status

Illustrated in Fig. 10 shows that respondents who are single fall under the majority, which makes up 82.4%. Those who are married came in second with a percentage of 16.7%. 0.9% is divorced, which is the minority.

Fig. 11 Ethnic Groups Ethnic Groups

Majority of our surveyed respondents are Chinese, which makes up a percentage of 69.5% as shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 12 First Language of respondents First Language

Fig. 12 shows that the main language spoken among the youths is English, and that makes up 76.7%.

Fig. 13 Professional Status Professional Status

Most of our respondents are non-students, with less than 50% being students.

Educational Levels Fig. 14 Education levels of respondents

According to Fig. 14, most of the respondents, who are students, are currently pursuing a diploma. This makes up 46.3%. The minority of respondents have higher-level qualifications.

-time job income) 44.1% of the students receive a monthly allowance ranging from $201 to $400. The second highest monthly allowance that the students receive is $200 and below. The minority, 2.32%, receives an allowance of $1001 and above.

-time job income)

-time jobs

Fig. 15 shows that 44.1% of the students receive a monthly allowance ranging from $201 to $400. The second highest monthly allowance that the students receive is $200 and below. The minority, 2.32%, receives an allowance of $1001 and above. Non-

Fig. 16 Current Work Status of respondents According to the percentages shown in Fig.16, the bulk of our consumers are currently working full-time. They make up 81.5% of the respondents. A small minority is still serving the nation whilst some are either unemployed or are working part-time.

Fig. 17 Income of non-students

Fig. 17 shows that most of the employed youths generally earn between $2001 and $4000. This makes up 52.07% of the representative sample. Minority are earning above $6001 per month.

4.2 Analysis of Psychographic Factors Social Networking Sites and Consumers From the survey, we found out that majority of our consumers (Singaporean youths) want to keep up with the latest news and fast, easily available information. We found this by analyzing the average number of hours consumers spend on citizen journalism platforms and the reasons as to why they view, provide or share citizen journalism content on their smart devices. Fig 18. The average number of hours spent on the Internet daily and the number of hours spent on citizen journalism platforms by heavy users who use them every day

As seen in Fig 18, the average number of hours spent by the average respondent on the Internet daily is 5 hours. Consumers do spend quite some time on various citizen journalism platforms. We focused on heavy users of social networking sites, individuals who used specific social networking sites every day. As shown in the chart, the respondents spent 2-4 hours on platforms like Twitter (3.9hrs), Facebook (2.7hrs) and Youtube (2.5hrs).

Fig. 19 Reasons why people view citizen journalism content Through further analysis, we derived that the majority view citizen journalism content to keep updated with current affairs and for entertainment/to pass time with a percentage of 76.4 and 73.8 respectively. Fig. 20 Percentage of youths who own smart devices

A majority of the youths, with a percentage of 77.2%, own a smart device. Fig. 21 Percentage of respondents who view, provide or share CJ content with their smart devices

Of this number, 63.2% use their smart device to view, provide or share content on citizen journalism platforms.

Fig. 22 Reasons why people view content with their smart devices

As shown in Fig. 22, most of them do this because it is convenient (90.7%), accessible (78.1%) and immediate (63.6%).

Twitter receives the highest usage among respondents because it caters to both current affairs and entertainment for our consumers.

For example, According to Atelier Seo Studios, (2011), on the day of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami there were 177 million tweets shared, from an average of 140 million. Following up, Twitter Media, (2011),many news organizations ABC News, CNN, BBC, ITV, Sky amongst others used the royal wedding as an opportunity to launch new Twitter integrations and to experiment with novel reporting approaches.

Using the same article of Atelier Seo Studios, entertainment-wise, as youths can choose who they want to follow on Twitter, they select a base of their friends, interest-related, humour and celebrities to follow, based on their preferences. This allows them to personalize their Twitter feed to content that they find stimulating. Twitter has raised the profile of a number of celebrities and politicians, at present the top five most followed on Twitter are:

1. Lady GaGa 11,689,056 followers

2. Justin Bieber 11,091,926 followers

3. Barack Obama 9,151,165 followers

4. Britney Spears 8,526,399 followers

5. Katy Perry 8,365,550 followers

Another reason to why Twitter is the highest ranked, or why consumers spend the

consumers can post updates throughout the day and get in touch with their network of followers. Twitter has now over 275 applications.

Consumer Purchasing Through our analysis, we found out that majority of the youths are most influenced by recommendations of family or friends as they have a direct influence to them. People trust their family and friends as they know them well and place more validity on their opinions.

Fig. 23 Percentage of respondents who purchased products/services after obtaining information from citizen journalism sites

As shown in the chart above, nearly half of our consumers have purchased a product or service after obtaining information from citizen journalism websites. This makes up 46.7%. Out of the 46.7%, the majority is also more influenced by recommendations by family or friends when deciding to purchase a product or service.

Fig. 24 Factors that influence youth purchasing habits Wreference group is those groups that have a direct (face to face) or indirect influence

peer groups, status and role in society, play an importpurchasing behavior. As seen in Fig. 24, family and friends have direct influence on a consumer because consumers have a direct contact with them for considerable time. Because of this directness, youths are to believe more of what their family and friends have to say due to trust and personal affection. Privacy Further analysis suggests that majority of respondents have strong opinions towards privacy and do not treat their privacy lightly and take measures to ensure that their

information is private and safe. This shows that the majority of respondents are concerned over their personal security and their personal information. Fig. 25 Percentage of respondents who use pseudonyms online

Out of 801 respondents surveyed, the majority does not use pseudonyms when participating in citizen journalism. However, for those who do (41.3%), Fig. 26 Why respondents use pseudonyms

they choose to remain anonymous online because they are concerned about their privacy, as illustrated in Fig. 26. Fig. 27 Frequency of STOMP usage on a weekly basis

We delved further into our analysis and compared it to the

p. We chose Stomp because it is known as a place for Singaporeans to contribute news tip-offs, photos or videos. Some of these comprise of controversial topics where acts of display by the public are deemed as unacceptable. Some call it an intrusion of their privacy.

As seen in Fig. 27, we found out that more than half, or 57.4% of the youths do not use Stomp at all.

capture and publicise information, photos or videos of others on citizen journalism websites without their approval.

To support this finding, we established that 72.9% do not find it acceptable to capture and publicize information, photos or videos of others on citizen journalism websites without their approval, as illustrated in Fig. 28. We can further conclude that our consumers strongly believe in privacy. Our hypothesis was further supported in our secondary research. The majority of teens actively manage their online profiles to keep the information they believe is most sensitive away from the unwanted gaze of strangers, parents and other adults. While many youths post their first name and photos on their profiles, they rarely post information on public profiles they believe would help strangers actually locate them such as their full name, home phone number or cell phone number. At the same time, nearly two-thirds of youths with profiles (63%) believe that a motivated person could eventually identify them from the information they publicly provide on their profiles. For example, a new report, based on a survey and a series of focus groups conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project examine how youths, particularly those with profiles online, make decisions about disclosing or shielding personal information (Lenhart & Madden, 2007). Some 55% of online youths have profiles and most of them restrict access to their profile in some way. Of those with profiles, 66% say their profile is not visible to all

Internet users. Of those whose profiles can be accessed by anyone online, nearly half (46%) say they give at least some false information. Teens post fake information to protect themselves and also to be playful or silly. 4.3 Decision-making process Based on a book by Schiffman & Kanuk (2010) There are 4 views in the consumer decision-making process, namely, economic view, passive view, cognitive view and emotional view. Consumers are commonly viewed as cognitive. This means that they are thinking problem solvers and information processors. They actively search for products that fulfill their needs and enrich their lives. When making a decision, consumers go through 3 main stages, which are, input, process and output as shown in Fig. 29 below. Fig 29. Stages that consumers go through in their decision making process.

Input The input component of our consumer decision-making model draws on external influences that serves as sources of information about a particular product and

-related values, attitudes and behavior. External

Marketing Efforts

that are used to reach, inform and persuade consumers to buy and use its products. An example would be that Facebook and

create and account and join their networks. Sociocultural Environment This is a non-commercial influence, such as influences by family, friends and neighbours. These inputs are internalized and affect how consumers evaluate and ultimately adopt (or reject) products. As seen in one of the psychographic factors for purchasing, we found out that majority of our consumers are most influenced by recommendations by family or friends when deciding to purchase a product or service. In a study by Harris Interactive (June 2010), 71% of the consumers claimed that reviews from family members or friends exert a great deal or fair amount of influence when asked what sources influence their decision to use or not use a particular company, brand or product. Process The process component of the model is concerned with how consumers make decisions. To understand this process, the influence of psychological concepts should be considered. The psychological field represents the internal influences (motivation, perception, learning, personality and attitudes) that affe -making process. This includes what they need or want, their awareness of various product choices, their information-gathering activities and their evaluation of alternatives. The act of making a consumer decision consists of 3 stages (1) need recognition, (2) pre-purchase search and (3) evaluation of alternatives. Need Recognition The recognition of a need is likely to occur when a consumer is faced with a

and desired state types. For actual state types, problems will arise when product fails to perform satisfactorily. As for desired state type, it means a desire for something new.

Fig. 30 Reasons why youths use smart devices to view, provide or share content As shown in Fig. 30 on the left, the top reason for using smart devices to view, provide or share content on citizen journalism platforms is convenience (90.7%). As smart devices offer new functions, consumers will tend to switch a product that provides them with something fresh and current. Comparing

this to the non-smart devices, consumers are now able to download applications linking to social networking sites. Hence, this is convenient, as consumers do not have to gain access to the Internet solely by using computers. Pre-purchase search Pre-purchase search begins when a consumer perceives a need that might be satisfied by the purchase and consumption of a product. The recollection of past experiences

(drawn from storage in long-term memory) might provide the consumer with adequate information to make the present choice. On the other hand, when the consumer has had no prior experience, he or she may have to engage in an extensive search of the outside environment for useful information on which to base a choice. The consumer usually searches his or her memory (psychological field) before seeking external sources of information regarding a given consumption-related need. Past experience is considered as an internal source of information. Many consumer decisions are based on a combination of past experiences (internal sources) and marketing and non-commercial information (external sources). The degree of perceived risk can also influence the decision process. In high-risk situation, consumers are likely to engage in complex and extensive information search and evaluation. In low-risk situation, they are likely to use very simple or limited search and evaluation tactics. When a consumer finds a product/service that he or she perceived to be satisfactory, the consumer is more receptive and inclined to try it. From our survey, we found out that consumers are most influenced by recommendations by friends and family, information from official product/service websites and reviews published on citizen journalism websites. Recommendations from friends and family are the highest ranked because consumers trust their views and opinion when deciding to purchase a product. Consumers, too, view these recommendations as a reliable source of information. Information from official product/service websites came in second as consumers are more exposed when searching for information about the product/service. When consumers look up these websites, they will be more inclined to believe that the product will meet their expectations. Reviews published on citizen journalism websites gives consumers a wider perspective of what the product/service offers. According to Econsultancy (July 2009), 70% trust opinions of unknown users. Fig. 31 Evaluation and Selection of Alternatives

When evaluating potential alternatives, consumers tend to use two types of information: (1) a list of brands from which they plan to make their selection. And (2)

the criteria they will use to evaluate each brand. Making a selection from a sample of all possible brands is a human characteristic that helps simplify the decision making process. Consumers will go through the awareness stage where they will differentiate the known and unknown brands. This awareness includes the evoked set specific brands a consumer considers while making a purchase choice, inept set unacceptable brands and inert set indifferent or overlooked brands. Consumers choose different citizen journalism platforms that caters to their needs and wants. Also, consumers would look out for benefits, which they believe would solve their problems. A consumer will then settle for that particular platform which closely ties to his or her satisfaction. Looking at the previous case, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube are the top 3 sites by which consumers spend most of their time on. This shows that these platforms are the ones that consumers are the most satisfied with and perceived to benefit them. Output The output portion of the consumer decision-making model concerns two closely associated kinds of post-decision activity: purchase behavior and post-purchase

with his or her purchase. Purchase behavior Consumers make 3 types of purchases: trial purchases, repeat purchases and long-term commitment purchases. When a consumer purchases a product for the first time and buys a smaller quantity than usual, this purchase would be considered a trial. Thus, a trial is the exploratory face of purchase behavior in which consumers attempt to evaluate a product through direct use. When a consumer first tries out a product and finds that the product is beneficial and meet his or her needs and wants and of satisfactory value, the consumer will be more inclined to repeat the purchase of the product/service again. There are times when a consumer directly progresses from the evaluating stage to a long-term commitment purchase. Post-purchase Evaluation As consumers use a product, particularly during a trial purchase, they evaluate its performance in light of their own expectations. There are three possible outcomes of this evaluations: (1) actual performance matches expectations, leading to a neutral feeling; (2) performance exceeds expectations, causing what is known as a positive disconfirmation of expectations (which leads to satisfaction); and (3) performance is below expectations causing negative disconfirmation of activities in dissatisfaction.

and satisfaction are closely linked; that is, consumers tend to judge the experiences against the expectations when performing a post-purchase evaluation.

An important component of post purchase evaluation is the reduction of any uncertainty or doubt that the consumer might have had about the selection. As part of their purchase analysis, consumer try to reassure themselves that their choice was a wise one and they attempt to reduce post purchase cognition dissonance. They do this by adopting one of the following strategies. They may rationalize the decision as being wise they may seek advertisements that support their choice and avoid those of competitive brands. The degree of post purchase analysis that consumers undertake depends on the importance of the product decision and the experience required in using the product. When a product lives up to expectation, the customer will usually repurchase it.

previously included in pre-purchase search, consumers tend to evaluate a product/service based on different sources of information. Recommendations from friends and family are most influential as consumers are closely tied and related to them. Hence, developing a direct influence when evaluating a purchase on a product. Because of this directness among consumers and their family and friends, consumers are likely to be satisfied with their purchases. This happens when performance exceeds expectations, causing what is known as a positive disconfirmation of expectations. As for information from official product/service websites and reviews published on citizen journalism websites, which is the next most influential sources of information, post-purchase evaluation may vary from consumer to consumer. This is because official product/service websites only informs the consumer about the positive points about the product/service. Depending on the consumer, this may or may not meet their expectations of the product. Likewise, reviews on citizen journalism websites may or may not provide consumers with product satisfaction. This is because the reviews done by people online have different perceptions and expectations of the product itself. In conclusion, the decision making process as a whole describes how consumers purchase a product/service based on the influences and information they gather. 4.4 Attitude Formation and Change Sources of Influence According to Schiffman & Kanuk (2010), attitude formation is divided into three areas: how attitudes are learned, the sources of influence on attitude formation, and the impact of personality on attitude formation. There are 5 main sources of influence on attitude formation. They are personal experience, the influence of family and friends, direct marketing, mass media, and the Internet.

were asked to rank on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being not at all and 5 being extremely influenced, the following factors: reviews published on citizen journalism sites, comments by other netizens, information from official product websites,

recommendations from friends and family, brand loyalty, reviews published on traditional media platforms, online advertisements and offline advertisements.

Fig. 32 Top 5 factors that influence youth purchasing decisions

As shown in Fig. 32, recommendations by friends and family has the most influence on youth purchasing habits, official product/service websites is second and reviews published on citizen journalism platforms is next. Following that is comments by netizens and brand loyalty. When crossed with the 5 main sources of influence on attitude formation, recommendations by friends and family has the most influence, and is related to the influence of friends and family in attitude formation. Secondly, 3 of the top 5 factors fall under the influence of the Internet, they are reviews published on citizen journalism sites, official product/service websites and comments by netizens. Lastly, the personal experience of consumers is related to the their brand loyalty as the level of loyalty they have towards a brand has to do with the past experience they had with the brand. This demonstrates that when youths purchase products or services, it is mostly due to their personal experience, influence of family and friends and the Internet. Impact of personality on attitude formation In addition, 3 out of the top 5 factors require consumers to seek out information about the product on their own. The factors are official product/service websites, reviews published on citizen journalism platforms and comments by netizens. These mediums require consumers to seek out the information they want on their own. Since 3 out of the 5 top factors require that, we can infer that majority of the respondents have a relatively high need for cognition in relation to personality factors, because they crave for information or seek out product-related information. How attitudes are learned Cognitive Component Social media and networking sites make up a large part of citizen journalism and is therefore closely related to citizen journalism as shown in our Literature Review. We

sites. Since youths used Twitter the most (on average 3.90 hours), we decided to focus on it. According to Silverthorne (2009), who reported about a study done by Harvard Business School professor, Mikolaj Jan Piskorski in 2009, he states that when people are on social networks, they enjoy looking at pictures and that 70% of all actions are related to viewing pictures or viewing other people's profiles. In addition he found many other findings about the various social networking sites. However, his findings did not apply to one site and that was Twitter. He attributes that to Twitter restricting users to 140-character messages. Corresponding to his finding where 70% of people on social networks look at pictures, we can see why Twitter is different from other sites because of its primary feature that allows users to only post 140-character messages. Also, it was found that there are more women on Twitter than men but rate of usage is equal between both sexes, women create fewer links in their tweets than men because "Women actually say things, guys give refere In line with

to Singaporean youths and their perceptions.

In order for us to analyse the results, we only selected respondents who used Twitter. Out of the 801 surveyed, 340 used twitter for citizen journalism purposes. We looked at how many males and females were using Twitter, the frequency of their usage and the rate of usage.

Fig. 33 The frequency and rate of usage of Twitter by survey respondents

twitter as compared to males. Out of the 340 respondents who use twitter, 187 are female and 153 are male. Although more women use Twitter as compared to males, both genders spend an equal amount of time on the site. When analysed against the study mentioned earlier, the results are significant and accurate. In relation to attitude formation, we can infer that the difference in Twitter usage has to do with their genders, which in turn affects their attitudes. Based on the Tricomponent

They are, the cognitive component, the affective component and the conation component. Our finding about gender relating to usage falls under the cognitive component that

do with how males and females perceive themselves, in other words, their self-concept. Communication principles cite gender expectations as an influence on communication as it makes males and females see themselves differently and as such they communicate and react differently. This could possibly be due to the fundamental representation of the role of men and women in society. Women are seen as more emotionally expressive and open about their feelings, whereas men are more private and less inclined to communicate their thoughts. This is in line with the secondary research that stated "Women actually say things, guys give references to other things In conclusion, the different choices of social media between males and females have to do with their attitudes, in this case, the cognitive component, which involves the way individuals see themselves. Attitude Change There are 5 strategies to attimotivations function, associating the product with an admired group or event, resolving two conflicting attitudes, altering components of the multi-attribute model, and changing consumer beliefs about com When the competence of citizen journalism and traditional media were measured, the options that were used for the comparison were, timeliness of content, credibility of content, accuracy of content, variety of topics, variety of viewpoints and objective reporting.

Fig 34. Competence of CJ vs TJ

According to the results we received, for most of the factors, there were landslide victories and a clear winner. However, one factor stood out and that was objective reporting. It was the only aspect that won with a percentage below 80% unlike all the other factors. From here, we decided to analyse if there was any change in

Professional journalists who make up traditional journalism have a code in which they have to abide by that defines their work. According to the Statement of Shared Purpose,

provide citizens with accurate and reliable

hat objective reporting is needed in order for news to be reliable. Also, according to the same purpose, it is not the journalist that has to be objective, but the method of reporting. Whereas, when the objectivity of citizen journalism is scrutinized, professionals claim that it opens up the news flow to the strong possibility of fraud and abuse. This can in turn affect the objectivity of reporting. However, some argue that the openness of citizen journalism allows for greater objectivity as it is an open source and more people are monitoring the accuracy and reliance of the reports. From what we have gathered, we can apply it to changing consumer beliefs about

resultsThe trust respondents have in traditional journalism to report news objectively may be quavering due to the how citizen journalism can offer equal or increased objectivity.

Findings 5.1 Examining the impact of citizen journalism on youth political participation One of the forms of citizen journalism is social media. Due to the increased number of people turning to social media and other citizen journalism platforms for information about the GE 2011, we examined the impact citizen journalism had on politics. Fig. 35 The top three social media sites used for citizen journalism

From our survey, we found that the top three social media sites used for citizen journalism were, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, respectively. This is illustrated in Fig. 35. As we wanted to attribute the increase in youth political participation to citizen journalism and social media, we selected participants who used both any top three social media sites, and also participants who used all three top social media sites to get information on the General Election. We did this to negate the effect of other citizen journalism platforms on their answers, and concentrated on those who used social media for a significant amount of their information.

Fig. 36 Percentage of respondents who agreed and disagreed that citizen journalism has increased their interest in Singapore politics

Out of all the respondents, 77.8% agreed that citizen journalism had increased their interest in Singapore politics. However, out of the 801 respondents, 594 people used at least 1 of 3 social media sites to keep updated about the GE. Of these 594 respondents, 83.2% agreed that citizen journalism had increased their interest in Singapore politics. 61 respondents out of the total participants had used all three top social media sites for information on the GE. Out of these 61 people, 86.9% agreed that citizen journalism had increased their interest in politics. In addition, of those who had not used social media at all (182 participants), only 59.5% agreed. From our findings, we can isolate the cause of the increased interest in politics to social media. As Fig 36 illustrates, the more we limit the results to respondents who use a significant amount of social media, the more people agree that citizen journalism has increased their interest in Singapore politics. Hence, we can infer that social media, when used for citizen journalism, has led to an increase in youth political participation in the form of their growing interest in politics.

Fig. 37 Percentage of respondents that agreed or disagreed that citizen journalism had shaped their opinion on the 2011 GE

To further confirm our results, we did the same for another question that asked

all respondents, only 65% agreed. However, 72.4% of participants who used at least one of the three top social media sites and 85.2% of respondents who used all top three social media sites agreed that citizen journalism had shaped their opinion on the GE. In contrast, out of participants who had not used social media at all, only 42.3% agreed while more than half disagreed. Therefore, our findings show that social media has led to an increase in youth political participation. After isolating participants that used social media to keep updated on the GE, we can attribute that social media was one of the significant forms

led to increased youth political participation.

5.2 How citizen journalism has shaped youth political opinions Fig. 38 ical viewpoints on citizen journalism websites are not based on fact and

We wanted to examine the effect that citizen journalism had on youth political opinions. From our secondary research, we hypothesized that youths felt that citizen journalism offered alternative viewpoints as opposed to traditional media, which was biased toward the dominant party, the PAP. We wanted to find out whether citizen journalism shapes youth political opinions because it offers alternative viewpoints. From all of our participants, we selected those who had disagreed with the question,

fact and do . This meant that the selected

respondents thought that the content on citizen journalism websites was not untrue, and that it reflected the true sentiment of Singaporeans. Then, out of these 504 participants, we analyzed their answers to the question

We found that 341 people, or 67.7%, agreed that citizen journalism had shaped their opinion on the GE. Hence we can conclude that, to a certain extent, citizen journalism shaped their opinion because it reflected the true sentiment of Singaporeans. Previously in our secondary research, we discussed the issue of press freedom in Singapore and the bias of the media. As mentioned in our secondary research, an article from the citizen journalism site Temasek Review stated, conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies last year, about half the number of

televi

These findings show that Singaporeans feel traditional media sources in Singapore are a biased source of political information due to censorship and self-censorship in media. This has led to more people, especially youths, turning online to citizen journalism for alternative viewpoints and political opinions. This can be seen in our secondary research, where the results show that the online sentiment of Singaporeans of the dominant party was primarily negative, compared to

Freedom ranking on the World Press Freedom Index 2010 was a dismal 137 out of a total of 178 countries. This suggests that Singapore has a monopolized media and that reported information is widely censored and controlled. A survey of Singaporeans by Today newspaper also found that 57.2% of respondents felt that the Internet increased the reach and influence of the Opposition, and 69.4% felt that Internet offered a wider range of political views than the traditional media. Consequently, we can safely surmise that citizen journalism shapes youth political opinions because it offers alternative political viewpoints from traditional media sources. 5.3 The impact of citizen journalism on the awareness of opposition parties As we have previously covered, our research finds that traditional media is biased toward the ruling party PAP. Fig. 39 Percentage of respondents who voted whom agreed that citizen journalism has played an important role in the 2011 GE

Out of 420 respondents who had voted, 89.5% agreed that citizen journalism had played an important role in the 2011 GE. As we cited in the previous section, citizen journalism sources on the 2011 GE were significantly more pro-opposition and negative toward the PAP than traditional media. The 2011 GE was a landmark election in the Singapore political scene as it was the first time that an opposition party (the

Group-Represented Constituency (GRC) (Aljunied section).

In an article by Channel Newsasia on 13th May 2011, Arun Mahizhnan, Deputy Director, Institute of Policy Studies, is quthe internet and the ground sentiment that made the final impact. Whether Aljunied would have been won without the internet, I still feel it would have been very close, but the internet certainly put it over the Hence, we can conclude that citizen journalism played an important role in the GE as it gave opposition parties a platform to reach out to the public, for example through social media (e.g. their Twitter and Facebook pages). It also allowed ordinary citizens to share their opinions and their personal interpretations of events or political plans (e.g. blog posts on political rallies, articles on party policies.) Therefore, from our survey findings and additional research, we have found that citizen journalism is one of the factors that have led to greater awareness about the opposition parties. 5.4 The influence citizen journalism and traditional media has on youth purchasing habits Fig 40. Extent of influence citizen journalism and traditional media has on youth purchasing habits

To find out what factors influence youth purchasing habits, respondents were asked to rank the extent the different factors had on their purchasing decisions. There were two

other factors (Recommendations by family/friends and Brand Loyalty) that were included in the survey; however, they did not fall under the categories of traditional media or citizen journalism. That led us to omit the influence those two factors have on youth purchasing habits as we did not need to analyse the results. We then compared whether citizen journalism or traditional media has a greater influence on youth purchasing habits by looking at the different extents of influence each of the factors had. We grouped the various factors into citizen journalism and traditional media and from there, analysed the extent. Fig 41 shows what we classified under traditional media and citizen journalism. In order for a fair comparison to be made, we took the overall average of the factors. According to Fig 40, it was found that on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being of no influence at all and 5 being extremely influenced, traditional media only has a 2.78 influence on youth purchasing habits whereas citizen journalism has a greater influence of 3.34. This means that citizen journalism has a greater impact on youth purchasing habits as compared to traditional media. From the classification of the factors, we can assume that citizen journalism has more influence than traditional media as citizen journalism takes on a more trustworthy form of persuasion. The factors that are categorized under citizen journalism involve reviews and opinions from parties that have no vested interest in the sale of the product, whereas for traditional media, 3 out of 4 factors, which are offline advertisements, online advertisements and information from official product or brand website take the form of advertiser-led advertising a less trustworthy form of persuasion that is directed by the companies. According to Oxford Dictionaries, to advertise is to describe or draw attention to (a product, service or event) in a public medium in order to promote sales or attendance. Therefore, citizen journalism has a greater influence on youth purchasing habits as it allows for a more objective projection of a product unlike traditional media where the sole purpose is to promote sales of a product where the projection of a product would usually take on a more biased approach to promote sales. 5.5 The Rise of Citizen Journalism Fig.41 Top 3 reasons that motivate youths to share citizen journalism content

Out of the 801 participants who took part in the survey, 528 youths answered what motivates them to share citizen journalism content. As shown in Fig. 41, 84.4% of those who answered utilize citizen journalism as it allows them to share or express their viewpoints. 62.3% use citizen journalism for entertainment purposes or to pass time and 58% use it to provide information about a current topic of interest. Citizen journalism allows for the expression of personal viewpoints and allows people to provide information about their current topic of interest, areas that traditional media does not. We can therefore infer that the increasing usage of citizen journalism as opposed to traditional media amongst youths is attributed to the characteristics of citizen journalism as being an outlet for personal expression and people to share information about their current interest, both of which traditional media restricts. Fig. 42 World Press Freedom index 2010 ranking of various countries (Source: Reporters Without Borders: 2010 World Press Freedom Index)

as illustrated in Fig. 42, out of 178 different countries and territories, Singapore is ranked 137th. However, other first world nations like the USA, Japan and Hong Kong, are ranked 20th, 12th and 34th Despite being politically unstable, countries like Iraq, Israel and Egypt, are still ranked higher than Singapore when it comes to press freedom. When calculating world press freedom, Reporters Without Borders considers the number of journalists murdered, expelled or harassed, and the existence of a state monopoly on TV and radio, as well as the existence of censorship and self-censorship in the media, and the overall independence of media as well as the difficulties that foreign reporters may face all of which are in relation to traditional media.

Being ranked 137th news contents by censorship and we are not free to report whatever we want.

environment is highly regulated where censorship is common, Internet access is regulated and private ownership of satellite dishes is not allowed. Also, the article states that the government vigorously punishes the press for perceived personal

attacks on officials, says Freedom House. "As a result, the vast majority of print and broadcast journalists practice self-censorship."

In addition, the existence of state monopoly on TV and radio, adds to the validation of our low rank. media scene in Singapore. Singapore Press Holdings, which has close links to the ruling party, has a virtual monopoly of the newspaper industry. MediaCorp, owned by

of state monopoly on TV and radio.

traditional media in Singapore. With that said, it supplements our inference that youth turn to citizen journalism platforms as it allows for personal expression and people to share information about their current interest, both of which traditional media restricts. In conclusion, the increase in usage of citizen journalism platforms can be attributed to the extent of participation citizen journalism allows as compared to traditional media. The limited participation allowed in traditional media is the main reason why youths are turning to citizen journalism platforms as an outlet to express their views and to share information about their interests. 5.6 Competence of Citizen Journalism and Traditional Media Fig. 43 Comparing the competence of Citizen Journalism with Traditional Journalism

Respondents were asked to compare the competence of citizen journalism against traditional journalism using six factors, which were: timeliness, credibility and accuracy of content, variety of topics, variety of viewpoints and objective reporting. We hypothesized that citizen journalism and traditional journalism would be competent in different areas. Citizen journalism is timelier and provides a wider variety of topics and viewpoints than traditional media, while traditional media is more credible, accurate and objective. We assessed this hypothesis by calculating the percentages that respondents picked for each factor of competency in comparing citizen journalism and traditional journalism. As illustrated in Fig 43, respondents found citizen journalism more competent than traditional media in the aspects of timeliness of content, variety of topics and variety of viewpoints. Conversely, they found traditional media more competent than citizen journalism in the factors of credibility of content, accuracy of content, and objective reporting. This corresponds with our hypothesis. Furthermore, almost every factor of competency led by a significant advantage in the results. For example, in the area of variety of viewpoints, 92.8% of respondents found citizen journalism more competent as opposed to Traditional Journalism while only 7.2% believed Traditional Journalism to be more competent in that area. These strong numbers in the statistics further confirmed our hypothesis. Interestingly, the only one that did not have a landslide victory was objective reporting. This speaks of the sentiments of Singaporeans towards the traditional media in Singapore. Before examining the results, we had the preconceived notion that the vast majority of people would believe the traditional media to be more objective than citizen journalism. Traditional media would be more objective in their reporting as they are

Citizen journalists are not upheld to the same standards as journalists from the traditional media. The Internet is not highly censored and people mostly have free reign of speech. However, the results in the survey did not support our belief. Only 67.4% believed that traditional media was more competent than citizen journalism, while 32.6% believed citizen journalism was more competent. The traditional media may not be completely objective. For example, it is widely known that Fox News is biased in their reporting. They are infamous for favoring the right wing and Republican Party. President Obama has even boycotted a debate to be broadcasted by Fox News Channel. According to Tancredo, (2007), Obama and Fox News Channel have had frosty relations ever since January, when the channel hyped and repeated untrue allegations that Obama had attended an extremist Islamist madrassa as a child living in Indonesia.

In a local context, while we might not have traditional media sources that are as extremist, we cannot safely say that the traditional media in Singapore is absolutely objective in their reporting either.

only two players dominate the media scene in Singapore. Singapore Press Holdings, which has close links to the ruling party, has a virtual monopoly of the newspaper industry. MediaCorp, owned by a state investment agency, operates TV and radio stations. Having a monopoly of media ownership prevents having a diversity of viewpoints and opinions presented in the media. Having the traditional media monopolized is dangerous, as they may be biased in their reporting. Pushing certain political or social agendas would be made easier to get away with if there is a media consolidation. The low advantage that traditional media had over citizen journalism can be linked to respondents who are aware of these issues. It would affect their perception of the objectiveness of traditional media outlets in Singapore. As such, the percentage of respondents who believe traditional media to be more objective would not be as strong. As shown in Fig. 43, people find citizen journalism and traditional journalism competent in different areas. Though the usage of citizen journalism is on the rise, it does not necessarily mean people solely use one or another. They may not get all of their news as a whole from either citizen journalism or traditional journalism, but possibly also from each for its areas of perceived competence. Nic Newman, journalist and ex-Digital Strategist and Consultant for BBC concurs,

le going on between new media and old media, people arguing that walls should come tumbling down and journalism and journalism needed re-inventing. But I think now there is the recognition that citizen

5.7 Rate of Usage of Citizen Journalism VS Traditional Media amongst youth Fig. 44 Usage of Citizen Journalism Platforms and Traditional Media

In order for a fair comparison of the rate of usage of citizen journalism platforms and traditional media amongst youths to be made, we took the average ranks of the different traditional and citizen journalism mediums. However, some mediums did not have any significant results and that led us to consider only the ranks of the top three mediums of traditional media and citizen journalism. For traditional media, we calculated the average usage ranks of the Newspaper, Television and Online News Websites. For citizen journalism, we looked at Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. All of which were the top three platforms for both categories. The results, portrayed in Fig. 44, show that youths use traditional media more as compared to citizen journalism platforms. Traditional media has a standing of 2.86 on the scale while citizen journalism stands at 2.79. Although citizen journalism has a lower rank, the rate of usage of both media platforms amongst youths is about equal. Therefore, we can conclude that youths use traditional media slightly more than citizen journalism platforms. In addition, we can see that although citizen journalism is used less, its usage is on the rise as its rank is almost equal to traditional media.

The usage of citizen journalism and traditional media can be analysed in relation to the 2011 GE. In an online afuture elections, observers say they expect voters to turn to both traditional and new

media will be used more but suggests that both mediums will be used. We can see that this trend has already started to emerge during the 2011 GE from our findings the usage of traditional media and citizen journalism platforms are about equal. People are turning to both forms of media for information. Traditional media might have been the primary source of information in the past but with the introduction of citizen journalism, people are looking to it for alternative views and opinions for a wider perspective on issues that might have been covered in the traditional media and coverage on issues that have not. From our original analysis of which medium youths utilize more, we decided to go one step deeper and find out the average time youths spend on each medium. Fig. 45 Average number of hours a person spends on Citizen Journalism Platforms and Traditional Media Platforms

The results we got were interesting as shown in Fig. 45; youths spend 30 minutes more on citizen journalism platforms than traditional media despite the fact that they use the latter more often. This shows that while youths use citizen journalism platforms less often than traditional media, when they actually use it, they spend more time on citizen journalism platforms. And, that although they use traditional media more often, they spend less time on it. This directed us to infer why that was the case. From our analysis of citizen journalism platforms and traditional media, we can attribute the greater time spent on citizen journalism platforms to the characteristics of citizen journalism. Citizen journalism offers alternative viewpoints, provides coverage of news that traditional media did not cover, allows readers to select what they want to read and is found mainly on the Internet. The vastness of the Internet adds to the time youth spend on citizen journalism platforms because there is a never-ending flow of information that can be found online. Traditional media when compared to citizen journalism has limits to the amount of information it can report. Especially in Singapore, where only two key players dominate the media scene, news reported in the different traditional mediums (i.e. TV, radio and Newspaper) may be similar. Therefore, that might be a reason why youths are spending more time on citizen journalism platforms as the information they can get from traditional sources is limited and citizen journalism is able to provide more extensive coverage. In addition, unlike traditional media, citizen journalism allows readers to select what they are interested to read about or seek out information they deem as relevant. Hence, youths spend more time on citizen journalism platforms reading about what they find worthy of note. The conclusion we can draw is that youths are using citizen journalism platforms and traditional media almost equally. Nonetheless, there is indeed a rise in the usage of citizen journalism. Citizen journalism has not overtaken traditional media as a primary source of information but in the future, both forms of media might be used equally.

5.8 The influence of age on preferred medium for information

Fig. 46 The weekly average usage of each medium by age group

The age range of our respondents was 15-35. We hypothesized that there would be a difference in their preferred medium for information, namely, whether they favoured using forms of citizen journalism versus traditional media to stay up-to-date. We separated our respondents into two age groups, age 15-24 and age 25-35. As shown in Fig 46, the younger respondents prefer citizen journalism, using it approximately 1-2 times a week. In comparison, the older age group uses citizen journalism an average of less than once a week. The older age group also uses traditional journalism more as compared to the younger age group. This supports our hypothesis. However, the differences between the two age groups are still fairly narrow. We expect that if the difference between ages was greater, e.g. 15-24 versus 55 and above (senior citizens), the results would be more evident, but we could not investigate this further as our survey only focused on youths. In summary, as source of information, younger people tend to use citizen journalism more whereas older people tend to use traditional media more.

5.9 Why youths consume citizen journalism Fig. 47 Top 5 reasons why youths view citizen journalism

When asked why they view citizen journalism, 612 of 801 people, or 76.4% of

To keep updated with current affairsfollowed close for entertainment/pass time with 73.8% of respondents selecting

to gain new perspectives to explore an area of interest .6%), as shown in Fig. 47. Fig. 48 Top 5 reasons why youths share citizen journalism

Conversely, the top reason youths provided or shared citizen journalism content was to share or express my viewpoints , with 84.8% of the applicable 531 respondents

choosing it as an optio for entertainment/pass time(62.3%) while third was because the content they provided or shared was about a current topic of interest to promote/advocate a cause

because people around me are doing so in Fig. 48. As seen in our secondary research, youths use citizen journalism because it is more personal and selective than traditional media. (In accordance with the Uses and Gratification Theory, which states that people specifically seek out information to suit their needs.) Our survey results that youths view citizen journalism to keep up with current affairs. Youths both view and share citizen journalism for entertainment or to pass time. These are benefits that traditional media also provides.

When using citizen journalism, people are more likely to practice selective exposure, whether consciously or unconsciously. They are able to filter information that interests them more, and selectively take in information. Traditional media mainly does not allow for active participation by users and offers a more passive experience than citizen journalism. Hence, the reasons why youths might use citizen journalism over traditional media is because citizen journalism provides an outlet for them to express their viewpoints,

It also allows them to seek out specific information on their interest, and promote things they believe in. Fig. 49 Percentage of respondents who agree that they are more willing to view/participate in CJ websites that coincide with their personal views

As mentioned in our secondary research, individuals tend to

consume and share information online when it is directly relevant to them . Kokenge (2010, p.7) classified Web users into two basic categories: goal directed and experiential. A goal directed user specifically chooses certain content over other competing forms

of content, while an experiential user simply surfs the Web with no specific goals or purpose in mind. In our survey, we found that out of the respondents that shared content on citizen journalism platforms, 85.3% agreed that they are more willing to view or participate in citizen journalism websites that coincide with their personal views. In contrast, of those who did not provide citizen journalism content, only 65.9% agreed, as illustrated in Fig. 49. This suggests that people who participate more in citizen journalism are more likely to seek out information that is relevant or of interest to them, that is, they are more goal-directed when looking for information. Hence, when viewing citizen journalism, users are more likely to be goal-directed and information seeking, as opposed to when using traditional media.

Conclusion and Recommendations 6.1 Conclusion For Mass Media Research The following is a list of conclusions we have drawn from our findings: The top three social media sites used for citizen journalism are Facebook, Twitter

and YouTube. Higher usage of social media sites are linked with an increase in interest in

Singapore politics. - Our initial hypothesis was proven to be true as the more social media sites respondents use, the percentage that agreed that citizen journalism increased their interest in politics increases as well.

Higher usage of social media sites are linked with an increased impact on youth political opinions proven to be true as - Our hypothesis was proven to be true as the more social media sites respondents use, the percentage that agreed that citizen journalism shaped their opinion on the General Election as well.

Social media use has led to an increase in youth political participation. Citizen journalism shapes youth political opinions because they believe it reflects

the true sentiment of Singaporeans. - Our hypothesis was true as out of all respondents who felt that the political viewpoints on citizen journalism websites are based on fact and reflect the true sentiment of Singaporeans, the majority agreed citizen journalism has shaped their opinion on the General Elections.

Youths turn to citizen journalism sites because it offers alternative viewpoints. - Citizen journalism shapes youth political opinions because it offers alternative political viewpoints

Citizen journalism had led to greater awareness about the opposition parties. - Citizen journalism sites were significantly more pro-opposition and negative toward the PAP than traditional media.

Citizen journalism has a greater influence on youth purchasing habits as compared to the traditional media. - Citizen journalism has a greater influence on youth purchasing habits because it offers a more objective projection of a product

The rise of citizen journalism is linked to it being an outlet for expression and to share information.

Youths visit citizen journalism sites less regularly than traditional media but spend more time on citizen journalism sites on each visit.

Younger people use citizen journalism more than older people while older people use traditional journalism more.

Citizen journalism users are goal-directed and seek specific information. People believe citizen journalism and traditional journalism to be competent in

different areas. - Our hypothesis is correct as respondents found Citizen journalism is timelier and provides a wider variety of topics and viewpoints than traditional media, while traditional media is more credible, accurate and objective.

For consumer behavior Psychographic: (1) Consumers spend more time in twitter and facebook as they

are able to keep updated with current affairs and for entertainment/to pass time. (2) Consumers are most influenced by recommendations by friends and family when deciding to purchase a product/service as they have a direct influence. (3) Our consumers believe that privacy is something very important when using social networking sites.

Decision-making process: Consumers decide to purchase a product through different sources of information. Generally, the most influential source is recommendations from friends and family.

Attitude formation and change: More female consumers use twitter as compared to males. Although more women use Twitter, both gender spends an equal amount of time on the site.

6.2 Recommendations For Mass Media Research

1. We recommend that more local studies regarding citizen journalism in Singapore be conducted journalism.

2. We recommend that research be done on local opinion leaders and the extent

of their influence, particularly on Singaporean politics.

3. Studies can be done to determine whether the objectivity of traditional media affects the way people perceive the objectivity of citizen journalism.

4. More research can be done about whether the increasing usage of citizen journalism might bring about privacy issues.

For Consumer Behaviour

1. More studies can be done on the effectiveness of citizen journalism versus traditional forms of advertising on consumer purchasing behavior. This will allow for researchers to examine the changing media age and enable marketers to better reach out to their target markets.

2. Also, research can be done regarding the influence opinion leaders have on

Limitations of Study There were several limitations of the study that hindered us from reaching our full potential in writing our research. Questionnaire Questions In the process of writing our report, we discovered the questionnaire was flawed. Some of the survey questions were not well formed, unclear or not suited for our research purposes. In addition, we felt that certain questions in the questionnaire were unnecessary and did not aid us in our research findings. These questions could have been replaced with questions of more relevance or simply taken out to shorten the length of the survey. An example of a question that could have been better utilized in the survey was question B4. It asked respondents to rate the extent of factors when deciding to purchase a product or service.

they had purchased a product or service after obtaining information from Citizen Journalism sites before could answer B4. If all respondents could have answered question B4, we believed that we could have gained a better insight into the purchasing psyche of consumers. An example of a question that we felt could have been made clearer was question A4. It asked respondents to rank the top three topics they are the most interested to read from, for both online platforms and traditional media platforms.

was used. This means that the terms used in the survey was not kept consistent. ld mean any type of online portal or site, the

to citizen journalism platforms that respondents use online. Respondents might have also misunderstood the questions in the questionnaire. They may have simply misunderstood what it meant. For example, in question A2, it asked,

However, we believed that respondents might have answered it according to how often they use the different online platforms in general, but not specifically for the use of Citizen Journalism. All these various limitations in the questionnaire questions limited the findings that we could delve into, which prevented us from realizing our full capability in writing this research report.

Time We were bound by a tight time constraint that was a major limitation in our study. We faced an urgent deadline, which was extremely challenging for us, as we had to finish learning how to use SPSS in order to make sense of our data, before starting to work on our study. With additional time, we would be able to examine our data in a more comprehensive manner. By doing so, it would provide us with fresh perspectives on our data and more in-depth findings. Inexperience It was our very first time doing a research study on such a complex level. We had no prior professional training or experience and we did not know of the proper standards that a research report required of us. Our inexperience in doing a research study also intensified the challenge of our time constraint. Analyzing the findings during the beginning was especially grueling for us. It was a laborious task and extremely mind boggling to properly organize and collate the vast amount of information to form interesting focuses. We were not experienced in extracting and spotting findings, so it took up the bulk of our time in the early stages of our study to come up with interesting focuses for our report. Survey Methods The method in which we carried out the survey was another limitation we faced. There were two main issues regarding the methods that the surveys where carried out which may have affected the quality of our answers. Firstly, we were required to read out all of the survey questions to the respondents. Many respondents wished to read the survey instead of having it read out to them. Conducting the surveys by having it read out to them slowed down the process significantly. Respondents tended to get bored or restless halfway through the survey because of the time consuming process and the lengthy questions. They might have answered some questions without much consideration, simply to get the survey over and done with. This is crucial to the accuracy of our survey findings,

Secondly, conducting face-to-face interviews might have also affected the accuracy of our answers. Respondents may not have wanted to answer certain questions truthfully, in fear of judgment by the person carrying out the survey. Furthermore, the tone in which people conducting the survey used on the respondents could have steered them to a specific answer, which is not in line with their true sentiments. Lastly, Human errors also might have occurred in the process of conducting the survey. They might have been made by the respondents because of a different interpretation they might have of the questions when it was explained it to them. Conversely, the person administering the survey might have made them. They might have filled out the survey wrongly simply because of a human error or by misunderstanding the respondent.

If other research methods such as focus groups or indirect observation were used, perhaps additional insights or more accurate information could be gained.

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