College athletes are active on a variety of social-media platforms. As a result, most athletic departments require them to participate in social-media education. Although this practice is becoming more prominent, little research has explored how college athletes perceive such training. This case study explored college athletes’ social-media use and their perceptions about social-media education. Semi structured interviews of 20 college athletes at a Division I university were conducted. Using social-cognitive theory as a framework, analysis revealed that while participants expressed a desire for social-media education, they indicated that most of the messages they receive about social media tend to be forgettable. Consequently, athletic departments need to take a more refexive approach to social-media education that incorporates college athletes’ feedback to optimize this instruction.
Doctors, journalists, and other advocates are attempting to draw attention to the dangers of head trauma in football, and the popularity of social media has given them a new outlet to perform advocacy. This case study explores how advocates for concussion awareness in football used Twitter to help spread their message during the 2013 Super Bowl. A content analysis of tweets from 92 concussion advocates on the day of the Super Bowl was conducted. Analysis revealed that the advocates used Twitter for (a) linking to football concussion content, (b) Super Bowl game-related commentary, (c) non-concussion or non-Super Bowl related links or messages, (d) linking to non-football concussion content, (e) concussion-related commentary, (f) engagement, and (g) self or website promotion. Results demonstrate that while advocates have a tremendous opportunity to use the agenda-setting possibilities that are afforded through Twitter, concussion advocates did not utilize Twitter in this manner.
This study examines the image-repair discourse of Richie Incognito throughout the events surrounding the Miami Dolphins’ bullying scandal during the 2013–2014 nfl season. Incognito embarked on a journey to salvage his image by utilizing both the social-media platform Twitter and through his exclusive one-on-one television interview with Fox Sports 1. For this study, Incognito’s tweets ( n = 350) sent during the time frame of the crisis and his comments during the nationally televised interview were examined through mixed-methods content analysis using Benoit’s image repair theory as a theoretical framework. Results suggest that Incognito used competing image-repair strategies on Twitter and traditional media platforms. Via Twitter, Incognito predominantly used strategies of victimization, stonewalling, and attacking the accuser, along with a new category: exposing critics. On traditional media, he used shifting blame, good intentions, and bolstering.
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