New Arenas or More of the Same? Public and Commercial Radio Stations on Facebook

Abstract

This study investigates traditional radio station use of social media, focusing on the analysis of content published on Israeli radio station Facebook pages and the differences between public and commercial stations’ pages. The findings suggest that public and commercial radio station posts differ in a number of factors: Public station posts proved to be more informative than those of their commercial counterparts, discussing mostly current events and news. Commercial station content is more promotional, privileging internal station events and calls for action. It can therefore be concluded that radio stations have leveraged Facebook’s potential in achieving their traditional goals.