TY - JOUR
T1 - When Athlete Activism Clashes With Group Values
T2 - Social Identity Threat Management via Social Media
AU - Sanderson, Jimmy
AU - Frederick, Evan
AU - Stocz, Mike
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Mass Communication & Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/5/3
Y1 - 2016/5/3
N2 - On November 30, 2014, five African American St. Louis Rams players locked hands and displayed a “hands-up” gesture during player introductions in response to racial tensions in Ferguson, Missouri, emanating from the Michael Brown case. This act generated significant media attention and prompted discussions via Facebook and Twitter. Two notable venues on social media for these conversations were the “Boycott the St. Louis Rams” Facebook page and the Twitter hashtag #BoycottRams. A thematic analysis of 1,019 user-generated Facebook comments and 452 tweets was conducted through the lens of social identity threat management. Six primary themes emerged: (a) renouncing fandom, (b) punishment commentary, (c) racial commentary, (d) general criticism, (e) attacking other group members, and (f) presenting the “facts” of the case. The results suggest that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter serve as forums where group members discuss and debate challenges to group values and promote action steps that can mitigate social identity threats. This form of protest holds implications for minority athletes’ activism efforts and sport organization administrators.
AB - On November 30, 2014, five African American St. Louis Rams players locked hands and displayed a “hands-up” gesture during player introductions in response to racial tensions in Ferguson, Missouri, emanating from the Michael Brown case. This act generated significant media attention and prompted discussions via Facebook and Twitter. Two notable venues on social media for these conversations were the “Boycott the St. Louis Rams” Facebook page and the Twitter hashtag #BoycottRams. A thematic analysis of 1,019 user-generated Facebook comments and 452 tweets was conducted through the lens of social identity threat management. Six primary themes emerged: (a) renouncing fandom, (b) punishment commentary, (c) racial commentary, (d) general criticism, (e) attacking other group members, and (f) presenting the “facts” of the case. The results suggest that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter serve as forums where group members discuss and debate challenges to group values and promote action steps that can mitigate social identity threats. This form of protest holds implications for minority athletes’ activism efforts and sport organization administrators.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962482382&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15205436.2015.1128549
DO - 10.1080/15205436.2015.1128549
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84962482382
VL - 19
SP - 301
EP - 322
JO - Mass Communication and Society
JF - Mass Communication and Society
SN - 1520-5436
IS - 3
ER -