Radio and social media have developed a strong relationship in Ireland since the explosion in popularity of the latter from 2008 onward. Although the convergence of radio with Facebook in Ireland has allowed radio stations to reach wider audiences, some stations have been much more successful than others at achieving this. In this article the author presents a case study of Beat, a regional commercial radio station targeting the ‘digitally native’ (Palfrey and Gasser, 2010) millennial 15–34-year-old market, and one of the Irish Radio Industry’s most successful viral media instigators. During the period of study, 2011–2016, Beat was found to be very successful at engaging its audience through bespoke material that connected emotionally with the cultural community. The success of this viral reach helped the station grow its online followers to numbers that far outnumbered their actual listenership. In this article the author presents an analysis of the viral posts that feature childhood toys as the subject matter and explore why these pieces ‘went viral’. Using the generational theories of Mannheim (1952) and Strauss and Howe (1991) among others to frame the argument, the author posits that users share media texts which connect with them emotionally and by enjoying this material with others are unified as an affective community of individuals. This experience brings the group closer together and closer to the radio station. I also touch on the power of nostalgia as a factor in the viral spread of media texts. This research employed several research methods: in-depth interviews with radio industry professionals, an online survey of radio listeners/online users of Beat, textual analysis of Beat’s Facebook page, direct observation of radio producers and content analysis of social media growth.

中文翻译：

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我们青年时代的回忆：电台广播的病毒式传播

自从2008年以来爱尔兰的受欢迎程度爆发以来，广播和社交媒体已在爱尔兰建立了牢固的关系。尽管广播与Facebook在爱尔兰的融合使广播电台可以覆盖更多的受众，但是在实现这一目标方面，有些广播电台比其他广播电台要成功得多。在本文中，作者介绍了Beat的案例研究，Beat是一家针对“数字原生”市场的区域性商业广播电台（Palfrey和Gasser，2010年），是15-34岁的千年市场，也是爱尔兰广播业最成功的传播平台之一媒体煽动者。在2011-2016年的研究期间，Beat被发现通过与文化社区情感相关的定制材料在吸引观众方面非常成功。这种病毒式传播的成功帮助该电台将其在线关注者人数增加到远远超过其实际收听人数的人数。在本文中，作者对以儿童玩具为主题的病毒帖子进行了分析，并探讨了为什么这些片段“传播病毒”。作者利用曼海姆（1952）和斯特劳斯和豪（1991）的代际理论来论证，作者认为，用户共享与他们情感相关的媒体文本，并通过与他人一起享受这种材料而成为一个情感社区。个人。这种经历使团队更加紧密地靠近无线电台。我还谈到了怀旧的力量，将其作为传播媒体文本的一个因素。本研究采用了几种研究方法：