Twitter has become a popular topic in sport communication research. Little research to date, however, has examined Twitter from the perspective of student-athletes. This research explored how student-athletes at an NCAA Division I university used Twitter and reacted to critical tweets from fans. Semistructured interviews with 20 student-athletes were conducted. Analysis revealed that student-athletes used Twitter in 3 primary ways: keeping in contact, communicating with followers, and accessing information. With respect to critical tweets, student-athletes reported various perceptions about them and diverse strategies for responding to them. The results suggest that Twitter is a beneficial communicative tool for student-athletes but also presents challenges, given the ease with which fans attack them via this social-media platform. Accordingly, athletic departments must be proactive in helping student-athletes use Twitter strategically, particularly in responding to detractors.

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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.

Though temporary work arrangements have garnered increased attention among scholars and practitioners, there has been little research into internal interim leaders (i.e. interims hired from within the organization) as a distinct case of temporary worker and leader. Internal interims are a fixture in organizational leadership and often serve during critical periods of change. As such, it is important to examine these leaders' actions and the social, organizational, and individual dynamics that inform them. Toward this end, the present study examines the sensemaking processes of 24 internal interims using a qualitative approach. We describe five distinct sensemaking processes (dutiful, traditional, aspiring, reluctant, and self-conscious) shared by the 24 participants and discuss how several social dynamics (message valence and consistency) and individual factors (prior leadership and future aspirations) influenced these divergent processes. Further, we contend that internal interims adopt more passive (caretaking) or proactive (trailblazing) styles of leadership based on these socially and individually informed sensemaking processes. Finally, we highlight directions for future research (motivating factors for serving as an internal interim, experiences with stigma and alienation, and processes of identity formation and identification) that may concomitantly enhance our understandings of internal interims as well as temporary workers and leaders at large.

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.

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The problem and the solution. Ernest Shackleton led a crew on the Endurance that would attempt to be the first group of individuals to cross the Antarctic continent overland. Only one day's sail away from the land, the Endurance became “iced in” and eventually sank, leaving the men with limited supplies. Shackleton's new goal quickly became getting every man home alive. Alfred Lansing's account of this amazing story, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, shows actual photographs and utilizes vivid accounts from different crew members' journals. Shackleton's leadership is viewed as nothing short of spectacular during this journey, and this article highlights three leadership approaches/ theories he displayed in this remarkable story: the skills and the style approaches and the contingency theory. Finally, this article offers various exercises and teaching tools that may aid instructors as they use this story in the classroom.