Choosing Is Believing? How Web Gratifications and Reliance Affect Internet Credibility Among Politically Interested Users

摘要

This study relied on an online survey of politically interested Web users during the 2004 presidential election to examine the degree to which people judged online information as credible. All online media were seen as only moderately credible, with blogs and online newspapers being rated higher than online broadcast and cable news. Reliance on the online source proved to be the strongest predictor of whether it was judged as credible.