Determinants of social media audience in Higher Education: the case of the Portuguese public institutions

Abstract

This article aims to find relevant determinants of the total number of followers in social media of the Portuguese public Higher Education Institutions. To pursuit that objective, data on the number of followers in Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube was collect for all the 34 public institutions in Portugal. This data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation, mean difference, and multiple linear regression analyses. It was found that Facebook is the social media application that assures higher audiences, followed by LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, in the given order. It was also found that the number of faculty members, being a university, and being in coastal mainland are relevant determinants of the total number of followers of Higher Education Institutions in social media. When combined, these determinants explain 62,5% of the variability of the total number of followers. Taking this result into consideration, a ranking of the institutions according to how well they perform compared to what could be expected based on the identified determinants is also presented.