Jimmy Sanderson

The Blog is Serving Its Purpose: Self-Presentation Strategies on 38pitches.com.

This research explored Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s self-presentation strategies that he displayed on his blog - 38pitches.com, in response to sports broadcasters’ and journalists’ portrayal of him during 2 events that made national sports headlines. A thematic analysis was conducted using constant comparative methodology of Schilling’s blog entries that he authored in response to these events. Three self-presentation strategies emerged from data analysis: (a) critic, (b) committed individual, and (c) accountable person. Using Hermans, Kempen, and Van Loon’s (1992) dialogical self theory, the study revealed that Schilling fluidly moved between multiple positions when self-presenting to combat media framing. Additionally, the findings suggests that blogs and other information and communication technologies (ICT) are valuable tools that professional athletes and other celebrities can employ to counter perceived negative media framing of their personae.

Tweeting Prayers and Communicating Grief Over Michael Jackson Online

Death and bereavement are human experiences that new media helps facilitate alongside creating new social grief practices that occur online. This study investigated how people’s postings and tweets facilitated the communication of grief after pop music icon Michael Jackson died. Drawing on past grief research, religion, and new media studies, a thematic analysis of 1,046 messages was conducted on three mediated sites (Twitter, TMZ.com, and Facebook). Results suggested that social media served as grieving spaces for people to accept Jackson’s death rather than denying it or expressing anger over his passing. The findings also illustrate how interactive exchanges online helped recycle news and “resurrected” the life of Jackson. Additionally, as fans of deceased celebrities create and disseminate web-based memorials, new social media practices such as “Michael Mondays” synchronize tweets within everyday life rhythms and foster practices to hasten the grieving process.

I'm Going to Instagram It! An Analysis of Athlete Self-Presentation on Instagram

Using Goffmans notions of self-presentation and gender displays, the following study examines the Instagram feeds of 27 professional athletes to determine how athletes are using the visual social media site for self-presentation. A mixed methods approach examined the photographs and captions to determine what behaviors and themes emerged. Through content analysis, the self-presentation styles of athletes of both genders, as well as the main differences between them were examined, and significant differences emerged that confirmed the previously established gender norms. Through textual analysis, findings with respect to captions align with previous research on athlete self-presentation on social media. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as directions for future research are discussed.

From Yellow to Blue Exploring Lance Armstrong’s Image Repair Strategies Across Traditional and Social Media

This research explored how Lance Armstrong utilized image repair strategies during 2012 and early 2013. This time frame represented a turbulent period in his career, as he faced a doping investigation by the U.S. government and later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during a nationally televised interview with Oprah Winfrey. Armstrong’s 859 tweets during this time period and his comments during the Oprah Winfrey interview were collected and subjected to a thematic analysis using Benoit’s image repair typology. Results indicated that via Twitter, Armstrong used attacking the accuser, bolstering, and stonewalling strategies but during the interview demonstrated contrition by employing mortification, shifting blame, simple denial, provocation, and victimization along with two newly identified strategies: conforming and retrospective regret. The results suggest that athletes who display multifaceted image repair strategies can embolden identification and attachment with followers and introduce competing media narratives surrounding their identity. However, these strategies may backfire when divergent messages are delivered in different media forums. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

From Loving the Hero to Despising the Villain: Sports Fans, Facebook, and Social Identity Threats

This research explored how University of Cincinnati football fans used Facebook to manage a social identity threat arising from head football coach Brian Kelly leaving the school to become the head coach at the University of Notre Dame. A thematic analysis of 717 wall postings in the “Get Out of Our City Brian Kelly” Facebook group was conducted. Results revealed that fans responded to this social identity threat in the following ways: (a) rallying, (b) stigmatizing, (c) victimization, (d) intimidation, and (e) degradation. The results suggest that social media sites are prime vehicles for sports fans to collectively manage social identity crises. Social media enables fans to perpetuate messages that elevate group distinctiveness, minimize in-group issues, and derogate out-group members.

Playing in the new media game or riding the virtual bench: confirming and disconfirming membership in the community of sport.

This essay explores a set of new media user trends that are (re)shaping fan–athlete interaction through (para)social connections. Acting as bonding agents, the trends considered either contribute to or detract from membership in the community of sport. Accordingly, social leveling practices, invitational uses, and bridging functions serve to connect people within the community of sport, whereas policing, maladaptive parasocial interaction, and hypermasculinity function to disconnect people from the community of sport. The essay looks at these trends in detail and provides examples of each in practice. It concludes with a discussion of the digital literacy implications that fan–athlete interaction via new media introduces.

Weighing in on the Coaching Decision: Discussing Sports and Race Online

The online consumption of sport is becoming increasingly popular among sports fans. This study examined how fans used computer-mediated communication to discuss allegations of racism in American Division I College Football hiring practices. A thematic analysis of 1,254 postings to an ESPN.com discussion forum revealed that fans addressed the issue through messages of (a) transference, (b) irrelevance, (c) reverse racism, and (d) recognition. Results suggest that the online commentary (re)produced an ideology that (a) claims racism as nonexistent, (b) blames the victims of racism for their underrepresentation, and (c) suggests any lingering racism is against Whites (e.g., Whites are victims of reverse discrimination). The findings reveal how computer-mediated communication domains are important sites for examining how fans’ messages (re)produce societal beliefs about the role and relevance of race in sport.

“The Nation Stands Behind You”: Mobilizing Social Support on 38pitches.com

This research explored social support expressions to and for Boston Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling, in response to troubling events he disclosed on his blog, www.38pitches.com. An interpretive analysis of 514 comments posted by blog readers to Schillings blog entries was conducted. The analysis revealed that, via their supportive postings, blog readers emerged as a mobilized support group who authenticated Schillings identity as a sports media critic and active sports media participant while also cementing his legacy in Red Sox culture. The analysis suggests that blogs possess valuable public relations utility for professional athletes, particularly for those who have combative relationships with sports journalists, as social support is covertly obtained, enabling professional athletes to preserve “face” while simultaneously garnering support for their views.

Extending and Withholding Forgiveness to Josh Hamilton Exploring Forgiveness Within Parasocial Interaction

Forgiveness plays a prominent role in social interaction yet has received scant attention in the parasocial realm. This research addresses this gap by investigating people extending or declining forgiveness to Major League Baseball player Josh Hamilton after an alcohol relapse. A thematic analysis of 474 postings in a discussion forum on the Texas Rangers official website was conducted. Analysis revealed that fans forgave Hamilton through (a) support; (b) “addiction is hard” narratives; (c) human condition attributions; and (d) justification and that forgiveness was withheld due to perceptions of Hamilton’s character flaws. The results suggest that when athletes transgress and accept responsibility, it facilitates increased similarity with fans who then engage in supportive communication, including forgiveness. Nevertheless, transgressions also may preclude forgiveness as some fans are unwilling to chance recidivism. The study concludes with implications and directions for future research, which include a recommendation that professional athletes accept responsibility for their wrongdoings to cultivate fan support and hasten the image repair process.

Talking about Trayvon in 140 Characters: exploring NFL players' tweets about the George Zimmerman verdict.

This research explored how National Football League (NFL) players used Twitter to discuss the verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial in the immediate aftermath of its announcement. A textual analysis, using constant comparative procedures of 465 tweets from 125 NFL players, was conducted. Results revealed that players discussed the case in the following ways: (a) anticipation, (b) disbelief, (c) critiques of the American Justice System, (d) social commentary, (e) condolences and support, (f) responding to fans, and (g) freedom of speech arguments. The results suggest that Twitter is a viable mechanism for African American and other minority athletes to engage in activism and initiate important conversations about social justice issues. Although empowering, this also may create conflict for team personnel and fans who may be uncomfortable with athletes using Twitter to question structures that favor Whiteness.