23 Players, 23 Voices: An Examination of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team on Twitter During the 2015 World Cup. (April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hayes Sauder, Molly; Blaszka, Matthew
• Is Part Of: Communication & sport. Volume 6:Number 2(2018:Apr.)
• Page Start: 175
• Page End: 202
• Publication Date: 2018-04
• Subjects: social media -- athletes -- self-presentation -- soccer -- Twitter; Communication in sports -- Periodicals; Mass media and sports -- Periodicals; 306.48305
• DOI: 10.1177/2167479516685579
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2167-4795

Abstract

This study's purpose was to contribute to the understanding of athlete self-presentation on Twitter by focusing on the communication strategies of an entire team of female athletes during an international mega-event, with special attention given to how the athletes' communication changed in the surrounding time periods. Content analysis was performed on tweets from all 23 players on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team during 30-day time periods before, during, and after the 2015 World Cup. Findings revealed an overall tendency towards backstage communication, with some commonalities between the self-presentation styles utilized by individual athletes on the team. In addition, there were organic, intuitive changes in the players' self-presentation across various time periods. Further, analysis of follower engagement via retweets indicated greater interest in athletes' backstage communication compared to front stage. These findings yield implications for future research and practical application, which are examined in the discussion.