Routinizing Facebook: How Journalists’ Role Conceptions Influence their Social Media Use for Professional Purposes in a Socialist-Communist Country

Abstract

Surveying journalists in Vietnam, a socialist-communist country, this study attempts to bring insights into the effects of digital platforms on newsroom practices. Specifically, it looks at how journalists from mainstream news media organizations routinize the use of Facebook for various professional purposes. Additionally, this research examines journalists’ role conceptions and how these values influence news workers’ use of Facebook. Its findings show that journalists in this Southeast Asian country are embracing Facebook in their reporting, understanding audience, and branding. Results also indicate that the two important predictors of journalists’ Facebook use for work are the interpretive and populist-mobilizer functions of the news media. Theoretical implications of those findings are discussed in the context of a socialist-communist media system.