Competing-Complementarity of Social Media on News Organizations

The dynamic capabilities of social media are changing the nature of contemporary news by allowing users to communicate and create content, deliver and share newsworthy information, and consume news. News organizations engage with social media because this computer-mediated tool provides an alternative platform for delivering news and connecting with global audiences. This role of social media is conceptualized as its complementarity. However, when mass user-generated-content is constantly shared with other users, more users are attracted to indulge in news-seeking activities on social media. This phenomenon potentially fulfills users' news requirements on social media, which is contrary to what news companies envisioned when they began engaging with social media. This dichotomous role of social media, providing complementarity and showing the potential for becoming a superior news medium, is conceptualized as its competing-complementarity. This paper offers preliminary evidence of competing-complementarity by analyzing the news consumption of individuals. Such consumption is explained through the theoretical perspective of punctuated equilibrium by conceptualizing news consumption as a deep structure radically impacted by a disruptive technology. Although social media benefit news organizations, its competing potential poses serious challenges to their monopolistic controls on news production, distribution, readership, and revenue generation.