Now You See Me: Public Service and Portuguese Radio on Instagram

Abstract

Digital platforms have expanded the communicative scope of radio, encouraging stations to integrate visual elements into their strategies and enabling new forms of identity construction, content promotion, and audience engagement. This study investigates whether communication on Instagram differs between public and private radio stations, considering the principles of differentiation expected of public service media. Using a quantitative approach with data extracted via Application Programming Interface (API), 844 posts from 2023 were analyzed: 244 from Antena 3 (public) and 600 from Rádio Comercial (private), with a margin of error of ±2.10%. The main findings indicate that the institutional nature of radio stations significantly shapes their social media communication, challenging the conclusions of previous research. Antena 3 exhibited stronger alignment with public service objectives, particularly through content focused on artists and events, whereas Rádio Comercial favored promotional and engagement-oriented strategies. The hypotheses suggesting that institutional nature would not affect communication, and that the themes of “Self-promotion” and “Community” would be equally represented in both cases, were rejected. Overall, this study demonstrates that institutional differentiation persists in platform-based online environments.