Journalists’ social media use is a recent example of long-standing gaps between journalistic discourse and journalistic practice. This manuscript applies the sociological concept of rationalization to explain the persistence of this gap, theorizing that the need for rational explanations of one’s work is so powerful for journalists that they offer one description publicly, or to their bosses, while practicing something different. We apply rationalization theory to reflect on journalism’s love affair with Twitter, now that many journalists and their organizations have deprioritized the platform. In interviews, journalists indeed could readily offer rational explanations for Twitter’s use and purpose in journalism, but further questions revealed that common practices didn’t serve the stated purposes; instead, journalists’ attachment to the platform was primarily relational. We argue humans’ inherent sociality, individuals’ response to a field in crisis, and journalism’s acute need for social validation may contribute to this disconnect.

中文翻译：

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我最怀念的：记者对关系型社交媒体使用的合理化

记者对社交媒体的使用是新闻话语和新闻实践之间长期存在差距的最新例子。这份手稿应用了合理化的社会学概念来解释这种差距的持续存在，从理论上讲，对一个人的工作进行理性解释的需求对于记者来说是如此强大，以至于他们在公开或向他们的老板提供一种描述，同时实践一些不同的东西。我们应用合理化理论来反思新闻业对 Twitter 的热爱，因为许多记者和他们的组织已经淡化了该平台的优先级。在采访中，记者确实可以很容易地为 Twitter 在新闻业中的使用和目的提供合理的解释，但进一步的问题表明，常见的做法并不能达到既定的目的;相反，记者对平台的依恋主要是关系性的。我们认为，人类固有的社会性、个人对处于危机中的领域的反应以及新闻业对社会认可的迫切需求都可能导致这种脱节。