DID INSTAGRAM KILLED THE MYSTERY OF RADIO? USE OF INSTAGRAM IN TURKISH RADIO STATIONS AND RADIO HOSTS

Abstract

Turning voice into imagination, radio translated imagination into reality with social media. The radio audience imagined there were people inside the receiver and wondered what kind of people those people were. This convergence between radio and the new media ensured realization of this imagination. The new media established communication between the people inside that radio receiver and the audience. Social media platform Instagram is the latest step in turning the radio from an image into reality. Are radio stations revealing themselves by throwing away the mystery via Instagram or do they still remain mysterious? The purpose of this study is to carry out a research directed at Instagram use of radio stations in Turkey and makes observations with regards to the existence of radio medium in Instagram. The existence of ten Turkish radio stations with the highest ratings among radio stations and ten radio hosts in Instagram was studied within this scope. The messages shared by the radio stations and hosts on their Instagram accounts were examined and an analysis was made intended at use of Instagram through these messages. The Instagram account activities of radio stations between 01 June – 31 December 2015 were reviewed within this scope and Instagram’s contribution to public relations activities of radio stations carried out by social media was scrutinized. The question “Did Instagram unveiled the mystery of radio?” was discussed and how radio is revealed by means of Instagram was underlined in this study.