“Arguably the Greatest”: Sport Fans and Communities at Work on Wikipedia

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan M. Ferriter

This article explores the socially constructed space of Wikipedia and how the process and structure of Wikipedia enable it to act both as a vehicle for communication between sport fans and to subtly augment existing public narratives about sport. As users create article narratives, they educate fellow fans in relevant social and sport meanings. This study analyzes two aspects of Wikipedia for sports fans, application of statistical information and connecting athletes with other sports figures and organizations, through a discourse analysis of article content and the discussion pages of ten sample athletes. These pages of retired celebrity athletes provide a means for exploring the multidirectional production processes used by the sport fan community to celebrate recorded events of sporting history in clearly delineated and verifiable ways, thus maintaining the sport fans’ community social values.

2021 ◽  
pp. 216747952110389
Author(s):  
Bo Li ◽  
Michael L. Naraine ◽  
Liang Zhao ◽  
Chenyang Li

The bullet-screen function is an augmented comment feature that has been adopted by the majority of Over-the-Top (OTT) services to foster users’ interaction and watching experience. This feature empowers sports customers to post and view numerous, short, and fast-moving comments that overlap over the screen while watching live stream sports events in real time. This research aims to investigate how sports fans embrace the bullet-screen feature while watching live stream sports. Through a combination of thematic analyzing bullet-screen comments from a National Basketball Association Finals game, and semi-structured interviews among bullet-screen users ( N = 15), the results indicate that sport fans’ bullet-screen messages could be classified into five categories: critical commentary, socialization, supportive interactions, random messages, and trash talk. Four motives for sports fans to engage with bullet-screen posting were identified: entertainment, gathering information, interaction, and finding belonging. The study also showed that the inappropriateness of comments and too much overlay on the screen could prevent sports fans from utilizing the service. Theoretical and practical implications have also been discussed.


Author(s):  
David P. Hedlund ◽  
Rui Biscaia ◽  
Maria do Carmo Leal

Sport fans rarely attend sporting events alone. While traditional consumer and sport fan behavior research often examines fans based on demographic characteristics, recent advances in understanding how sport fans co-create and co-consume sporting events provides substantial evidence that sports fans should be examined as tribal groups. Tribal sport fan groups can be identified based on seven dimensions, including membership; geographic sense of community; social recognition; shared rivalry; and shared knowledge of symbols, rituals and traditions, and people. In this research, these seven dimensions are used to classify sport fans (n=1505) through hierarchical and k-cluster analyses. The results of the cluster analyses using the seven dimensions suggest six unique clusters, labelled as (1) casual fans, (2) moderate remote fans, (3) moderate local fans, (4) local developing tribal fans, (5) remote tribal fans, and (6) tribal fans. A discussion of these six fan groups and the implications regarding associations with demographics and other important variables are provided.


Author(s):  
David P. Hedlund ◽  
Rui Biscaia ◽  
Maria do Carmo Leal

Sport fans rarely attend sporting events alone. While traditional consumer and sport fan behavior research frequently segmented fans based on demographic characteristics, recent advances in understanding how sport fans co-create and co-consume sporting events provides substantial evidence that sports fans should be examined as tribal groups. In this chapter, seven dimensions of sport fan tribalism are proposed and tested (membership; geographic sense of community; social recognition; shared rivalry; and shared knowledge of symbols, rituals and traditions, and people) with samples from top-level American college football (Division I American football) and the top level of professional Portuguese soccer (Primeira Liga). The results provide reliability and validity evidence in support of the seven-dimension scale. In addition, the structural testing of the scale highlights differences between tribal fans and their teams (relative to other teams) in terms of five behavioral intentions and two commitment- related outcome variables. The implications of labeling sports fans at tribal, the use of the seven-dimension scale and the structural results are all discussed.


Author(s):  
David P. Hedlund ◽  
Rui Biscaia ◽  
Maria do Carmo Leal

Sport fans rarely attend sporting events alone. While traditional consumer and sport fan behavior research often examines fans based on demographic characteristics, recent advances in understanding how sport fans co-create and co-consume sporting events provides substantial evidence that sports fans should be examined as tribal groups. Tribal sport fan groups can be identified based on seven dimensions, including membership; geographic sense of community; social recognition; shared rivalry; and shared knowledge of symbols, rituals and traditions, and people. In this research, these seven dimensions are used to classify sport fans (n=1505) through hierarchical and k-cluster analyses. The results of the cluster analyses using the seven dimensions suggest six unique clusters, labelled as (1) casual fans, (2) moderate remote fans, (3) moderate local fans, (4) local developing tribal fans, (5) remote tribal fans, and (6) tribal fans. A discussion of these six fan groups and the implications regarding associations with demographics and other important variables are provided.


Author(s):  
David P. Hedlund ◽  
Rui Biscaia ◽  
Maria do Carmo Leal

Sport fans rarely attend sporting events alone. While traditional consumer and sport fan behavior research frequently segmented fans based on demographic characteristics, recent advances in understanding how sport fans co-create and co-consume sporting events provides substantial evidence that sports fans should be examined as tribal groups. In this chapter, seven dimensions of sport fan tribalism are proposed and tested (membership; geographic sense of community; social recognition; shared rivalry; and shared knowledge of symbols, rituals and traditions, and people) with samples from top-level American college football (Division I American football) and the top level of professional Portuguese soccer (Primeira Liga). The results provide reliability and validity evidence in support of the seven-dimension scale. In addition, the structural testing of the scale highlights differences between tribal fans and their teams (relative to other teams) in terms of five behavioral intentions and two commitment- related outcome variables. The implications of labeling sports fans at tribal, the use of the seven-dimension scale and the structural results are all discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Dezső Máté

The aim of the study, to examine the mentioned Roma generations value similarities and identities, in parallel with the Roma LGBTQ movement. My research question is, which social values and norms are excluded from the first intellectual Roma generation’s focuses, and what were the main reasons of it. In my paper I using discourse analysis method, which are reflecting on the mentioned Roma generations own lived experiences and social values. Roma LGBTQ people facing not only with discrimination and xenophobia because of their ethnic origin, but also with homophobia and transphobia because of their gender and LGBTQ identities as, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer people.


Author(s):  
Mian Jia ◽  
Shuting Yao

Abstract Introduced by African American communities, Chinese rap battle features an intensive ritual exchange of impoliteness, aggression, and vulgarity, but its linguistic realizations have not been systematically examined. Taking Iron Mic as a case study, this paper explores how advanced and novice rappers perform ritual impoliteness in Chinese underground rap battle competitions. Using mixed methods of discourse analysis and content analysis, we analyze the ritual impoliteness strategies in 51 rounds of Chinese freestyle rap battles. The findings show that advanced and novice rappers employed comparable instances of taboo language, threatening, and insults on their opponents’ superficial qualities and rap skills. Moreover, advanced rappers performed significantly more boasting and ritual insults on the others’ moral qualities. Their use of ritual impoliteness is warranted by hip-hop community norms of authenticity and creativity as well as Chinese social values of reciprocity, filial piety, and moral educators. This paper contributes to the research on Chinese ritual impoliteness and rap battle competitions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoseph Mamo ◽  
Kwame Agyemang ◽  
Damon Andrew

While the burgeoning research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) indicates the importance of tracking the interest of external stakeholders to obtain societal goals, insight into what types of CSR activities contribute to social outcomes remain scarce. As such, the purpose of this study was to identify the relevant dimensions of CSR that can enhance the social outcomes of one specific group of external stakeholders (i.e., sport fans). Data were collected from US sports fans (n = 312) over the course of two weeks. The present research indicates that fans gain more excitement and happiness as well as increased their social cohesion if sport organization CSR initiatives are concentrating on sport governance, environmental management and sustain-ability, and philanthropy issues. Assessing the impact of CSR from micro-level approach would be one way to strengthen the relationship between existing fans and sport organizations to make positive social impact


2019 ◽  
pp. 282-294
Author(s):  
John S. Clark ◽  
Jill K. Maher

Social media has proved to be a constant source of information and entertainment for sport fans. These social media sites allow sport organizations to provide news about the organizations and the athletes that play for them, as well as serving as a means of communication between the organization and fans, or between the fans themselves. Smartphones have enabled this communication to be nearly constant, allowing sport fans to access information around the clock. Anecdotal evidence suggests this on-demand access to information about a fan's favorite team will increase the avidity by which the fan consumes the sport product. In a parallel development, researchers have investigated the detrimental effects devoting too much time to social media has on consumers. This research bridges these lines of inquiry and examines the relationship between social media addiction and highly identified and committed sport fans. Data were collected from college students, and a multiple regression analysis was performed which resulted in no statistically significant relationship between addiction to social media and high levels of sport identification and commitment. The results suggest that for sport organizations, social media is not a one-size-fits-all approach to reaching a segmented (based on identification and commitment) market.


Author(s):  
Lauren Michele Johnson ◽  
Wen-Hao Winston Chou ◽  
Brandon Mastromartino ◽  
James Jianhui Zhang

Sports fans are individuals who are interested in and follow one or more sports, teams, and/or athletes. These fans reinforce their identity as a fan by engaging in supportive and repetitive consumption behaviors that relate to the sport or team they are so passionate about. This chapter will provide an overview of the history and cultural heritage of sports fandom, discuss the significance and functions of fandom, underline what motivates individuals to consume sports, examine the consequences and results of fandom, and highlight contemporary research and developmental trends. This chapter would allow for a good understanding of where research on sports fandom is headed and the important issues affecting sports fans.


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