Who finds value in news comment communities? An analysis of the influence of individual user, perceived news site quality, and site type factors

User commenting forums are a ubiquitous interactive feature offered by news organizations. Despite their popularity, research has generally failed to investigate extent to which news readers themselves find any redeeming value in news comment communities and, therein, the factors that serve as antecedents to such value perceptions. In light of this gap in the literature, this study set out to determine the factors associated with news community value. Using a sample of over 500 news consumers, we explored the impact of individual user, site quality, and site type factors. The results suggested that perceived news community value was highest among those with high levels of self-efficacy and those who use the Internet for civic purposes. The data indicated also that value perceptions were highest for those news sites that were understood to be interactive and aesthetically pleasing. Finally, perceived news community value was highest on sites that were both non-traditional and non-partisan in nature.