Social networks and institutional communication: the case of Portuguese universities

• Autor(a) principal: Amaral, Inês
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Santos, Sílvio
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/74082
• topic: Social networks; Portuguese universities; Institutional communication; Social media strategies; Redes sociales; Universidades portuguesas; Comunicación institucional; Estratégias de social media; Ciências Sociais::Ciências da Comunicação

The media ecosystem has evolved towards a hybrid ecology where social networks form (inter) active consumers who develop new practices and relationships with brands in a collaborative logic, which represents the era of Communication 3.0. Higher education institutions deal with these issues by addressing an audience that is permanently connected through social media. Social networks became part of their communication strategies, which seek to differentiate their offers in a competitive context. This article analyses both the presence in social media and the use of Facebook by Portuguese universities as a tool for institutional communication. The results show that universities with fewer students can create network value through Facebook and LinkedIn as long as they have a high publication frequency. Institutions with more students achieve higher dynamic of publication and engagement, although smaller institutions attain greater amplification and more visibility.