The DOI matches its Crossref record; 8 of the 8 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Counting Clicks: Quantification and Variation in Web Journalism in the United States and France
Abstract
Sociological studies often emphasize the role of metrics in broader processes of convergence and homogenization. Yet numbers can take on different meanings depending on their contexts. This article focuses on the case of journalism, a field transformed by quantification in the form of “clicks.” Drawing on ethnographic material gathered at two news websites—one in New York, the other in Paris—it documents important differences in the uses and meanings assigned to audience metrics in the United States and France. At the U.S. website, editors make significant decisions based on metrics, but staff journalists are relatively unconcerned by them. At the French website, however, editors are conflicted about metrics, but staff writers fixate on them. To understand these differences, this article analyzes how the trajectories of the U.S. and French journalistic fields affect newsroom dynamics. It shows how cultural differences can be reproduced at a time of technological convergence.
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Cites
The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information
Pasquale, F. (2015) · doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674736061 · Cited by 3,796
Sociomaterial practices: exploring technology at work
Orlikowski, W. J. (2007) · Organization Studies · doi:10.1177/0170840607081138 · Cited by 3,248
Barley, S. R. (1986) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392767 · Cited by 2,315
Toward a Comparative Sociology of Valuation and Evaluation
Lamont, M. (2012) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-120022 · Cited by 1,492
Leonardi, P. M., & Barley, S. R. (2010) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/19416521003654160 · Cited by 733
Algorithms in practice: Comparing web journalism and criminal justice
Christin, A. (2017) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/2053951717718855 · Cited by 379
Self-citationThe Field Site as a Network: A Strategy for Locating Ethnographic Research
Burrell, J. (2009) · Field Methods · doi:10.1177/1525822x08329699 · Cited by 334
The Contexts of Control: Information, Power, and Truck-Driving Work
Levy, K. E. C. (2015) · The Information Society · doi:10.1080/01972243.2015.998105 · Cited by 171
Cited by
Algorithms at Work: The New Contested Terrain of Control
Kellogg, K. C., Valentine, M. A., & Christin, A. (2020) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/annals.2018.0174 · Cited by 2,732
Self-citationWhat Do Platforms Do? Understanding the Gig Economy
Vallas, S., & Schor, J. B. (2020) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-121919-054857 · Cited by 1,354
Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing
Brayne, S. (2020) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190684099.001.0001 · Cited by 334
The ethnographer and the algorithm: beyond the black box
Christin, A. (2020) · Theory and Society · doi:10.1007/s11186-020-09411-3 · Cited by 327
Self-citationTechnologies of Crime Prediction: The Reception of Algorithms in Policing and Criminal Courts
Brayne, S., & Christin, A. (2021) · Social Problems · doi:10.1093/socpro/spaa004 · Cited by 279
Self-citationCapturing Clicks: How the Chinese Government Uses Clickbait to Compete for Visibility
Lu, Y., & Pan, J. (2021) · Political Communication · doi:10.1080/10584609.2020.1765914 · Cited by 130
Who games metrics and rankings? Institutional niches and journal impact factor inflation
Siler, K., & Larivière, V. (2022) · Research Policy · doi:10.1016/j.respol.2022.104608 · Cited by 70
The return of the social: Algorithmic identity in an age of symbolic demise
Kotliar, D. M. (2020) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444820912535 · Cited by 45
“Making Peace with Metrics: Relational Work in Online News Production.”
Christin, A., & Petre, C. (2020) · Sociologica · doi:10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11178 · Cited by 34
Self-citationRebooting One’s Professional Work: The Case of French Anesthesiologists Using Hypnosis
Bourmault, N., & Anteby, M. (2023) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.1177/00018392231190300 · Cited by 12
Metadata
- Authors
- Christin, A.
- Venue
- American Journal of Sociology
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 2018-03
- Volume
- 123
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1382-1415
- ISSN
- 0002-9602 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5390
- OpenAlex
- W2793984024
- Cited by
- 266
- References
- 8
- FWCI
- 57.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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