Visibility dependence and format mismatch: Legacy media adaptation to platform logics

Social media platforms have become central infrastructures for media distribution, visibility, and audience interaction, creating conditions of visibility dependence for legacy media. This study examines how visibility dependence and format mismatch act as organisational constraints shaping legacy media's adaptation to platform logics from a media business perspective. Employing a mixed-methods design, it integrates survey data from social media users (N=623), structured non-participant observation of 6 legacy media accounts (N=274 posts), and semi-structured interviews with media professionals in the Greek market. Findings reveal low engagement and critical audience perceptions persist across generations, driven not by demographic divides but by uneven platform adaptation—radio > TV > print/online—and systemic format mismatches with platform norms. These constraints limit organisations' ability to convert platform presence into meaningful interaction.