Seek and You Shall Find? How Need for Orientation Moderates Knowledge Gain from Twitter Use

A Web-based survey (N = 306) examined if Twitter use enhances individuals' news knowledge, and if so, how such effects might vary depending on their need for orientation (NFO) and the type of news (hard vs. soft). The duration of Twitter use positively predicted hard news knowledge, but only for those higher in NFO. In contrast, daily Twitter use had negative influence on high NFOs' soft news knowledge, with no corresponding effect for lows. Although high NFOs were more likely to use Twitter for information-seeking than their less surveillance-driven counterparts, such motivation did not facilitate knowledge gain. Systematic processing of public affairs information and selective avoidance were discussed as potential explanations for differential knowledge gain by high and low NFOs.