#Kanhaiya: Exploring Indian journalists’ use of Twitter to share developing news and audience engagement with different types of tweets

Abstract

This exploratory study examined the twitter feeds of ten senior Indian journalists during a specific event of national importance to understand what type of tweets led to greater follower engagement. Further, we examined how followers engaged with congruent and incongruent messages. Analysis of tweets about a specific developing event – the arrest and release of a student activist – indicated that journalists largely tweeted opinions, and that this type of tweet attracted more follower engagement than purely factual tweets. Analysis of each editor’s most commented upon tweets indicated that followers showed a higher level of engagement with incongruent messages than with messages with which they agreed. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.