Content Analysis of Twitter
Revolution of sports: Content analysis of twitter
Christopher Newport University
Revolution of Sports: Content Analysis of Twitter
Introduction
With the evolution of social media, Twitter has become one of the top marketing instruments used by athletes all over the world. I want to discover the positive and negatives of presenting all thoughts to the media for public criticism. Professional athletes can use social media to connect with fans and share their personal lives in ways they never could use to before. With great power, comes great responsibility and if not properly handled, the misuse of Twitter can consequent in severe repercussions. A specific example of such action includes a highly sought after, former defensive lineman for the North Carolina Tar Heels, Marvin Austin (Walsh, 2011). His tweet from a party in Miami was quickly deemed the ‘tweet heard’ around the college football world (Walsh, 2011). Lack of consideration about the content within his tweets lead to immediate dismissal from the team and the suspension of many players. In this case, the vulnerabilities of Twitter ‘punched’ Marvin Austin right in the mouth, so to speak (Walsh, 2011). The social media channels offer athletes the opportunity to significantly strengthen their marketability but if not handled tediously and with constant thought of who the reader is, problems can occur. Lack of consideration or an aggressive rant in a split second of poor judgment can result in major incidents. “Perhaps every so-often Twitter should read its users their Social Media Miranda Rights: you have the right to remain silent, anything you post can and will be used against you in a court of public opinion,” suggested Michael Smith, NFL reporter for ESPN (Platt, 2011). This is an interesting point, because with an in depth look at what he says, it is beyond true that severe problems can come about from the misuse of
Christopher Newport University
Revolution of Sports: Content Analysis of Twitter
Introduction
With the evolution of social media, Twitter has become one of the top marketing instruments used by athletes all over the world. I want to discover the positive and negatives of presenting all thoughts to the media for public criticism. Professional athletes can use social media to connect with fans and share their personal lives in ways they never could use to before. With great power, comes great responsibility and if not properly handled, the misuse of Twitter can consequent in severe repercussions. A specific example of such action includes a highly sought after, former defensive lineman for the North Carolina Tar Heels, Marvin Austin (Walsh, 2011). His tweet from a party in Miami was quickly deemed the ‘tweet heard’ around the college football world (Walsh, 2011). Lack of consideration about the content within his tweets lead to immediate dismissal from the team and the suspension of many players. In this case, the vulnerabilities of Twitter ‘punched’ Marvin Austin right in the mouth, so to speak (Walsh, 2011). The social media channels offer athletes the opportunity to significantly strengthen their marketability but if not handled tediously and with constant thought of who the reader is, problems can occur. Lack of consideration or an aggressive rant in a split second of poor judgment can result in major incidents. “Perhaps every so-often Twitter should read its users their Social Media Miranda Rights: you have the right to remain silent, anything you post can and will be used against you in a court of public opinion,” suggested Michael Smith, NFL reporter for ESPN (Platt, 2011). This is an interesting point, because with an in depth look at what he says, it is beyond true that severe problems can come about from the misuse of