Brands and Media Gatekeeping in the Social Media: Current Trends and Practices – An Exploratory Research

Literature Review

In this new, still fluid landscape where new terms and ideas like “brand journalism” emerge (Bull, 2013), the media gatekeeping filters ought to be reexamined. For more than fifty years, media gatekeeping has been among the most influential contributions in communication theories. Articulated by Shoemaker and Reese, this model outlines five dimensions of content filters, namely: individual influences, professional routines, organizational influences, extra-media influences and the cultural environment. Digital technologies have a profound effect on each of these filters because they enable interaction on a “many-to-many” scale and strengthen extra publisher influences (Cossiavelou, Bantimaroudis, 2009).

The approach of brands as publishers calls for a reexamination of the agenda-setting for potential customers, especially for product and service content that will manage to inspire trust and lead to purchase (Hermida et al., 2012). The relationship among content generator -the brand- and content retriever -the consumer- is crucial for this agenda- setting.

Specifically, it is noted that the individual filter seems to become a fuzzy concept as new practices emerge and need to be redefined and researched. For the second dimension of gatekeeping, evidence shows that brands allowing highly critical comments from both individuals and lobbying groups constitute an exception, while new skills are required to understand and manage online communities (McWilliam, 2012). As the quality of the conversations could matter more than the quantity of followers and as the social media constitute an opt-in environment, new requirements emerge that create complexity and affect the business models of big brands. As a result new strategies and solutions have to be adopted, and this also affects budgeting decisions.