Generation Z and Social Media: New forms of storytelling in European Public Service Media
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Published
27-06-2025
Juan Manuel Prieto-Arosa
Marta Rodríguez-Castro José Miguel Túñez-López
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6630-737X
Marta Rodríguez-Castro José Miguel Túñez-López
Abstract
This study analyses how RTBF, RTVE and BBC use Instagram and TikTok to connect with Generation Z and expand their storytelling. Through a content analysis of the Instagram and TikTok profiles of the BBC, RTBF and RTVE, conducted between October and December 2024, three main strategies were identified: self-promotion (BBC, RTVE), live events (RTVE) and exclusive content (RTBF). The results show that RTVE achieves more interaction with influencers, BBC redirects to its iPlayer digital platform and RTBF creates original content. It is concluded that, although the networks expand the presence of public television, these media prioritise the migration of the audience to their platforms without ceding narrative control to young people.
How to Cite
Prieto-Arosa, J. M., Rodríguez-Castro, M., & Túñez-López, J. M. (2025). Generation Z and Social Media: New forms of storytelling in European Public Service Media. ZER - Journal of Communication Studies, 30(58). https://doi.org/10.1387/zer.27383
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Keywords
PSM, social media, expanded storytelling, Generation Z, digital interaction, young audiences
References
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D’Arma, A., Raats, T., & Steemers, J. (2021). Public service media in the age of SVoDs: A comparative study of PSM strategic responses in Flanders, Italy and the UK. Media, Culture & Society, 43(4), 682-700. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443720972909
Dawson, P., & Mäkelä, M. (2020). The Story Logic of Social Media: Co-Construction and Emergent Narrative Authority. Style, 54(1), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.5325/style.54.1.0021
De Fina, A. (2016). Storytelling and audience reactions in social media. Language in Society, 45, 473-498. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404516000051.
Doyle, G. (2010). From Television to Multi-Platform: Less from More or More for Less? Convergence, 16(4), 431-449. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856510375145
Dragomir, M., & Túñez López, M. (2024). How public service media are changing in the platform era: A comparative study across four European countries. European Journal of Communication, 39(6), 608-624. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231241290062
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Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J., & Bracken, C. C. (2002). Content analysis in mass communication: Assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Human Communication Research, 28(4), 587-604
Martín-Critikián, D., & Medina-Núñez, M. (2021). Redes sociales y la adicción al like de la Generación Z. Revista De Comunicación Y Salud, 11, 55–76. https://doi.org/10.35669/rcys.2021.11.e281
Moe, H. (2024). Embrace or leave social media? On the viability of public service media organizations’ strategies facing platform power. European Journal of Communication, 39(6), 595-607. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231241290097
Möller, J. (2021). Filter bubbles and digital echo chambers. En H. Tumber & S. Waisbord (Eds.), The Routledge companion to media disinformation and populism (pp. 92–100). Routledge.
Molyneux, L. (2017). Mobile News Consumption: A habit of snacking. Digital Journalism, 6(5), 634–650. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1334567
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Reviglio, U., & Agosti, C. (2020). Thinking outside the black-box: The case for ‘algorithmic sovereignty’ in social media. Sociology of Media & Society, 6, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120915613
Robotham, A. T. (2021). What Were You Synching? An Ethnographic Study of News Scheduling at a Digital First Legacy Newspaper. Digital Journalism, 11(6), 1005–1025. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.1988860
Rodríguez-Vázquez, A.I., Lago-Vázquez, D. & Direito-Rebollal, S. (2017). Uses and Trends of Social Networks by Public Service Media in Europe in Rocha, A., Correia, A.M., Adeli, H., Reis, L.P. &
Constanzo, S. (eds.). Recent Advances in Information Systems and Technologies (pp. 101-110). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56541-5_12
Sehl, A. (2020). Public Service Media in a Digital Media Environment: Performance from an Audience Perspective. Media and Communication, 8(3), 359-372. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3141
Sehl, A., Cornia, A., & Nielsen, R. K. (2016). Public service news and digital media. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Recuperado de: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/public-service-news-and-digital-media
Stollfuß, S. (2018). Is This Social TV 3.0? On Funk and Social Media Policy in German Public Post-television Content Production. Television & New Media, 20(5), 509-524. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476418755514
Swart, J., Groot Kormelink, T., Costera Meijer, I., & Broersma, M. (2022). Advancing a Radical Audience Turn in Journalism. Fundamental Dilemmas for Journalism Studies, Digital Journalism, 10(1), 8-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.2024764
Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why today's super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy—and completely unprepared for adulthood. Atria Books.
Vaz-Álvarez, M., Fieiras-Ceide, C., & Túñez-López, M. (2021). Experiencias de co-creación en medios de servicio público europeos: Visión y tendencias. AdComunica, (21), 71–84. https://doi.org/10.6035/2174-0992.2021.21.5
Boyd, d. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16631-6.
Breguła, D., & Nizet, L. (2023). Valuable Young Audiences. Recuperado de https://valuableyoungaudiences.com
Buckingham, D. (2019). The Media Education Manifesto. Polity Press.
Burgess, J., & Green, J. (2018). YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture (2nd ed.). Polity Press. Recuperado de: https://cutt.ly/veDna2q4
Clouet, M. E., & Lozada, V. (2023). ¿El mundo está preparado para la Gen Z?. Nuevas Tendencias, (110), 32-34.
Costera Meijer, I. (2007). The paradox of popularity: How young people experience the news. Amsterdam: RIPE Conference. Recuperado de: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=461c9189dd217ddd6c93c7564af258be13ca32fa
Costera Meijer, I. (2023). Veranderend mediagebruik door jongeren Implicaties voor de rol en betekenis van de journalistiek in een democratie. Den Haag: Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid. E-IBSN: 978 90 832 90 87 4. Recuperado de: https://cutt.ly/uePQzBpL
Couldry, N. & Hepp, A. (2016). The Mediated Construction of Reality. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Recuperado de: https://cutt.ly/PeOEUGNA
D’Arma, A., Raats, T., & Steemers, J. (2021). Public service media in the age of SVoDs: A comparative study of PSM strategic responses in Flanders, Italy and the UK. Media, Culture & Society, 43(4), 682-700. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443720972909
Dawson, P., & Mäkelä, M. (2020). The Story Logic of Social Media: Co-Construction and Emergent Narrative Authority. Style, 54(1), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.5325/style.54.1.0021
De Fina, A. (2016). Storytelling and audience reactions in social media. Language in Society, 45, 473-498. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404516000051.
Doyle, G. (2010). From Television to Multi-Platform: Less from More or More for Less? Convergence, 16(4), 431-449. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856510375145
Dragomir, M., & Túñez López, M. (2024). How public service media are changing in the platform era: A comparative study across four European countries. European Journal of Communication, 39(6), 608-624. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231241290062
EBU (2018). Empowering society: A declaration on the core values of public service media. Geneva: EBU. Recuperado de: https://www.ebu.ch/files/live/sites/ebu/files/Publications/EBU-Empowering-Society_EN.pdf
Giones-Valls, A., & Serrat-Brustenga, M. (2010). La gestión de la identidad digital: una nueva habilidad informacional y digital. BiD: textos universitaris de biblioteconomia i documentació, 24 (junio). Recuperado de: https://bid.ub.edu/24/giones2.htm
Gómez-Puertas, L., Figueras-Maz, M. & Tortajada, I. (2021). Fans, activistas digitales y ciudadanía red. En Quintás-Froufe, N. & González-Neira, A. (coords.) Los estudios de la audiencia. De la tradición a la innovación. Editorial Gedisa: Comunicación, pp. 113-134.
Hagar, N., & Diakopoulos, N. (2023). Algorithmic indifference: The dearth of news recommendations on TikTok. New Media & Society, 25(6), https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231192964
Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing media systems: Three models of media and politics. Cambridge University Press.
Iosifidis, P. (2007). Public television in the digital era: Technological challenges and new strategies for Europe. Palgrave Macmillan.
Izquierdo-Castillo, J. (2022). La televisión pública y la audiencia infantil: Valores y funciones en la era digital. Anàlisi: Quaderns de Comunicació i Cultura, 66, 155-170. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/analisi.3345
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qffwr
Karadimitriou, A., & Papathanassopoulos, S. (2024). Public service media in the platform era: The cases of Britain, Denmark, and Greece. Journal Media, 5(2), 646-670. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5020043
Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J., & Bracken, C. C. (2002). Content analysis in mass communication: Assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Human Communication Research, 28(4), 587-604
Martín-Critikián, D., & Medina-Núñez, M. (2021). Redes sociales y la adicción al like de la Generación Z. Revista De Comunicación Y Salud, 11, 55–76. https://doi.org/10.35669/rcys.2021.11.e281
Moe, H. (2024). Embrace or leave social media? On the viability of public service media organizations’ strategies facing platform power. European Journal of Communication, 39(6), 595-607. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231241290097
Möller, J. (2021). Filter bubbles and digital echo chambers. En H. Tumber & S. Waisbord (Eds.), The Routledge companion to media disinformation and populism (pp. 92–100). Routledge.
Molyneux, L. (2017). Mobile News Consumption: A habit of snacking. Digital Journalism, 6(5), 634–650. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1334567
Nettleford, W. (2022). Public service news for young people – Where next? The Children’s Media Foundation. Recuperado el 4 de marzo de 2025, de https://www.thechildrensmediafoundation.org/public-service-media-report/articles/public-service-news-for-young-people-where-next
Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Eddy, K., Robertson, C. T., & Nielsen, R. K. (2024). Digital News Report 2024. Reuters Institute. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/es/digital-news-report/2024
Olsen, R. Kr., Tenenboim, O., Hess, K., Westlund, O., Lindén, C. G., & Broersma, M. (2024). Platform paradoxes and public service media legitimacy: a cross-national study. Information,
Communication & Society, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2353783
Pérez-Escolar, M., Alcaide-Pulido, P., & Del Toro, A. (2023). Nuevos referentes informativos de la Generación Z: Estudio del rol de los y las influencers en TikTok como divulgadores/as de contenidos . Revista Prisma Social, (40), 262–288. Recuperado de: https://revistaprismasocial.es/article/view/4863
Reviglio, U., & Agosti, C. (2020). Thinking outside the black-box: The case for ‘algorithmic sovereignty’ in social media. Sociology of Media & Society, 6, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120915613
Robotham, A. T. (2021). What Were You Synching? An Ethnographic Study of News Scheduling at a Digital First Legacy Newspaper. Digital Journalism, 11(6), 1005–1025. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.1988860
Rodríguez-Vázquez, A.I., Lago-Vázquez, D. & Direito-Rebollal, S. (2017). Uses and Trends of Social Networks by Public Service Media in Europe in Rocha, A., Correia, A.M., Adeli, H., Reis, L.P. &
Constanzo, S. (eds.). Recent Advances in Information Systems and Technologies (pp. 101-110). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56541-5_12
Sehl, A. (2020). Public Service Media in a Digital Media Environment: Performance from an Audience Perspective. Media and Communication, 8(3), 359-372. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3141
Sehl, A., Cornia, A., & Nielsen, R. K. (2016). Public service news and digital media. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Recuperado de: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/public-service-news-and-digital-media
Stollfuß, S. (2018). Is This Social TV 3.0? On Funk and Social Media Policy in German Public Post-television Content Production. Television & New Media, 20(5), 509-524. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476418755514
Swart, J., Groot Kormelink, T., Costera Meijer, I., & Broersma, M. (2022). Advancing a Radical Audience Turn in Journalism. Fundamental Dilemmas for Journalism Studies, Digital Journalism, 10(1), 8-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.2024764
Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why today's super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy—and completely unprepared for adulthood. Atria Books.
Vaz-Álvarez, M., Fieiras-Ceide, C., & Túñez-López, M. (2021). Experiencias de co-creación en medios de servicio público europeos: Visión y tendencias. AdComunica, (21), 71–84. https://doi.org/10.6035/2174-0992.2021.21.5
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