Me, myself, I: Exploring radio personalities' display of identity on social media

Abstract

Digital technologies have sparked a renewed focus on radio personalities. Radio personalities are, by virtue of their profession, performers, and social media offers a stage on which to enact their professional and personal identities. Drawing on Goffman's (1959) theatre metaphor, this study explored the way radio presenters display their personal and professional identities online. This research evolved from the difficulty that seems to exist in the interplay between a personal online identity and an online personal brand. The qualitative study was embedded within an interpretative and constructivist paradigm. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with radio personalities of a commercial radio station in South Africa and were triangulated with content analysis of the presenters' social networking profiles. The findings extend existing scholarship by suggesting that radio personalities display differently configured online characters. The study makes a theoretical contribution by highlighting that radio personalities' actions on social media should be informed by a strategic marketing approach in achieving individual and business goals.