Recent studies have shown an increasing impact of online social networks such as Twitter on sports media. The following study aims to provide insight about communication patterns of athletes during the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Drawing on literature from traditional fields such as social capital (Field 2003), the 'uses and gratifications' approach (Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch 1974), self- presentation (Goffmann 1971) and recent studies about social media in sports (Kassing and Sanderson 2012), a Twitter-analysis of ten athletes was conducted during the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Following a content analysis of 1042 tweets (including 246 pictures), the research findings of this study reveal that athletes predominantly use Twitter as a platform for self- presentation. Furthermore, the analysis showed the possibility for fans to use Twitter in order to overcome the parasocial orbit (Kassing and Sanderson 2012) of virtual space and engage in actual social interaction with athletes. It is concluded that linkages of athletes with various stakeholders and the official framework of social media guidelines by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), result in self- restricting communication patterns of the athletes during the Olympic Games 2012.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:8433 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Siegner, Arne |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MCom |
| Format | iii,105 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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