This case study explored how sports journalists used Twitter to cover allegations about former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing young boys. A content analysis of 1652 tweets from 151 sports journalists was conducted. Analysis revealed that sports journalists used Twitter in the following ways: a) offering commentary, b) breaking news, c) interactivity, d) linking to content, and e) promotion. The results suggest that Twitter serves as an additional venue for sports journalists to frame stories; however, their behavior in this venue blurs professional and personal boundaries as they mock fans and promote their competitors. The analysis further suggests that the immediacy with which news breaks on Twitter places sports journalists and sports media organizations into a dialectic between “being first” and “being accurate” when reporting news.
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Jimmy Sanderson and Marion E. Hambrick
Jimmy Sanderson and Blair Browning
This essay discusses how Twitter can be used as a pedagogical tool for sport communication and sport management courses. Given the prevalence with which Twitter has penetrated the sport industry and the frequency with which college students use social media, Twitter is a complementary and viable classroom component. The essay provides ways in which Twitter can be used for formal assignments in the sport communication and sport management classroom. The essay concludes by discussing some challenges to using Twitter in the classroom, describing strategies for overcoming these barriers, and encouraging sport communication and sport management educators to embrace the culture of convergence that Twitter affords. The appendix offers detailed guidelines for the assignments discussed in the essay.
Nicholas M. Watanabe, Grace Yan, and Brian P. Soebbing
Understanding how consumers interact with sport brands on digital platforms is of increasing importance to the sport industry. In this study, through a nexus of consumer behavior and economic literatures, the examination focuses on consumer interest in major league baseball teams on social media platforms from July 2013 to June 2014. Specifically, two generalized least squares regression models were used that considered a variety of factors, including market characteristics, scheduling, and social media use and management. The findings display varying results of short- and long-term consumer interest in teams on Twitter. From this, important theoretical and practical understanding can be derived by considering consumer behavior in the automated “like economy” of social media.
Fabian Kautz, Michael Schaffrath, and Alex C. Gang
and their ability to connect the teams with the fans. For example, Real Madrid has 110 million followers on their Facebook page, while the Los Angeles Lakers have 21 million followers, and the Golden State Warriors have 6.4 million followers on Twitter (as of December 20, 2019). In addition, when the
Joseph H. Moore
U.S. adult population claims to follow sports, with television being the preferred medium. Thirty-five percent of sport fans consume sports via social media, and of those fans, Facebook is most commonly used at 70%, followed by YouTube (40%) and Twitter (24%). It is generally younger fans who
Evan Frederick, Ann Pegoraro, and Jimmy Sanderson
As president, Donald Trump was no stranger to controversial remarks on Twitter, which appears to be his medium of choice for shaping and amplifying his message ( Phillips, 2015 ). Since he began using Twitter, Trump has employed the social media platform as a vehicle for bolstering his public image
Fallon R. Mitchell, Sara Santarossa, and Sarah J. Woodruff
demonstrated by Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who advocated for HIV/AIDS awareness, and Mark McGwire, who spoke out against child abuse ( Brown, Basil, & Bocarnea, 2003 ). However, the means for advocacy has shifted from press conferences and television to social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook ( Guo
Roger Baines
how professional translators navigate their way through issues related to identity management, to global and local identity, and to fluency and visibility on Twitter. Research Context Twitter and Sport There is now considerable scholarship in English devoted to Twitter in the sport context
Collin C. Brooks and Jaimie M. McMullen
Teacher specialists, including physical education teachers, often work in isolation, and their schedules frequently vary from other teachers within the school building ( Battersby & Verdi, 2015 ). There is some evidence that social media platforms, such as Twitter, can help educators and physical
Emma Kavanagh, Chelsea Litchfield, and Jaquelyn Osborne
performance ( Ward, 2015 ). Using netnography, we analyzed two popular social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) in this study, focusing on the negative social commentary and fan interaction directed toward female tennis players during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. In particular, we sought to
