Education on the Digital Terrain: A Case Study Exploring College Athletes’ Perceptions of Social-Media Training

Abstract

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.

Athlete Perceptions of Social Media Benefits and Challenges During Major Sport Events

“…Second, the findings also reveal the need for sport organisations to educate athletes in ways that may help them manage challenges and negative feelings related to social media use if athletes need to continue using social media to promote sponsors or connect with family during events (Sanderson, Browning, & Schmittel, 2015). Again, current education resources that promote appropriate use could be improved by acknowledging the challenges athletes face with social media (Sanderson et al, 2015). Sport organisations may benefit by providing athletes with strategies on how to filter competitors' posts so they are not visible in the athlete's social media feeds, as this was a source of anxiety for some athletes.…”

Follow Me, What’s the Harm? Considerations of Catfishing and Utilizing Fake Online Personas on Social Media

“…Sanderson and Browning (2013) encouraged athletic departments to be more proactive and define their boundaries rather than being reactive. While research on social media training and policies has highlighted the negative aspects, Sanderson, Browning, and Schmittel (2015) noted there should be a blend of both positive and negative effects of social media, and both should be included in social media training. With more development in training, athletes would be better suited to understand the proper use of social media (Sanderson, Snyder, et al, 2015) and thus avoid the pitfalls that affect users such as Te'o.…”

Malice in the Digital Palace: A Commentary on Athletes, Social Media, and Defamation

“…With that said, the emergence of social media platforms has certainly resulted in an expedited need to both revisit existing laws and policies and create new laws and policies regarding media use. While progress has been made regarding the regulation of celebrity endorsements via social media (see Carpenter, 2012) and the implementation of social media policies among athletic departments (see Sanderson, 2011;Sanderson, Browning, & Schmittel, 2015;Sanderson, Snyder, Hull, & Gramlich, 2015), many unanswered questions endure pertaining to athletes, social media use, and defamation claims. The purpose of this commentary was to pose these questions in hopes that future scholarship will delve deeper.…”

“…In addition, those who have received social media training have discussed how those lessons remain relatively forgettable (Sanderson, Browning, & Schmittel, 2015). Finally, this line of research has discussed how athletes are given conflicting JLAS Vol.…”