@article{2019:nlleke:bypassing_,
title = {Bypassing traditional sports media? Why and how professional volleyball players use social networking sites},
year = {2019},
note = {In recent years, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram have become major players in sports communication. In this
study, we focus on the motives for athletes’ use of social media.
Applying a mediatization approach, we conceptualize social media as a
possible means to bypass traditional (sports) journalism. For sport
disciplines that receive minor media coverage, social media provides
the opportunity to increase public visibility. Consequently, our study
focuses on indoor volleyball as such a marginalized sport. The online
survey results from all players of the 24 either all-male or
all-female teams of the German first volleyball leagues are combined
with a quantitative content analysis of the players’ social media
activities. Results indicate that athletes evaluate traditional media
coverage of their sport as negative and social media as extremely
influential. Still, their postings on social media seem neither to aim
at bypassing sports journalism nor to address sports fans directly.
Instead, they use social media primarily to connect with friends and
family. In conclusion, volleyball players have so far not embraced
social media as a tool to promote themselves as sportspersons. At the
moment, they do not exploit social media’s potential as channels for
professional sports communication.},
journal = {SCM Studies in Communication and Media},
pages = {287--310},
author = {Nölleke, Daniel and Birkner, Thomas},
volume = {8},
number = {3}
}