Like, Comment, or Share? Exploring the Effects of Local Television News Facebook Posts on News Engagement

Abstract

This study examines the effects of local television stations’ Facebook posts on news engagement. By scraping 4,151 Facebook posts from a local television station’s Facebook page, this investigation performs a content analysis on different features of Facebook news posts, including news topics, message vividness and interactivity, post time, and length of the post. This study further examines how different news post features affect three dimensions of news engagement indicated by reactions, comments, and shares. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed to help deepen our understanding of Facebook news content optimization, enhance user engagement, and facilitate community integration.