Impact Of Social Media On The Way People Watch And Engage In Sports
Celebrities have become a public that has inspired and influenced the culture of America and the entirety of the world. In a societal aspect, the celebrities of the world are typically what drive the media and the culture of the world. In particular athletes are able to engage with their fan base on a more prevalent level. This public of athletes has engaged and created a huge fan base that serves as its own public.
In a social media sense, I grew up with a lack of social media for most of my childhood. However sports was always a continuous theme in my life. From being on my high school soccer team to dating the running back for two years, I’ve always been either a fan or athlete myself. It was not until the middle of high school that I was really equipped with a phone and full on social media tools. I wasn’t even allowed to have a Facebook until freshman year. I grew up in New Jersey, and living in the north east, sports teams and fan bases are very intense. I personally really like the Patriots and supporting a team like that includes a lot of engagement. I am now able to engage with the Patriot’s fan base on Twitter. When I was growing up, my parents took me to games and the environment was very energetic.
One down side to sports in the past was that I always felt that the sports stars were far off from the fans; their aloof presence was odd to me. I knew I would likely never get to meet them or talk to them one on one, but I still wanted to know more about them. With Instagram, I can check into the personal lives of all of my favorite sports stars. I can scan the feed of Serena Williams and scroll through photos of her baby daughter and her husband. I can know about her favorite foods and she can tell us about her most beloved products and brands. The public that I think platform engages with is it’s fans.
An article from the International Journal of Sports Management describes the intense marketable qualities of social media platforms such as Facebook. With applications such as this, athletes can enhance and further their fan base to people from all over. You do not even have to watch them to be a part of their public. I am not a big surfer fan, however I still engage as a public and fan of Alana Blanchard’s style and Instagram. Now people can be fans of these athletes without having to be a fan of their sport. Before social media the public of sports stars was a very centralized group.
Social media is no longer just a medium of fun engagement, it can be business tool. If a celebrity has millions of followers, those are hypothetically millions of shoppers and millions of customers. If Lebron James tweets that he only uses chocolate protein in his shakes, it will likely propel the sales of that product. Publics across social media forums are not hard to come by, but they take looking into the applications to see where the user media is generated. The web traffic that the athletes of the world generate is incredible. I am a really big football fan, and that has changed the way I look at life. It is interesting because I fell that I have actually grown in my engagement with the sport since having a social media. Watching the Super Bowl is a game that generates a large public (the world) and in turn concerns a public that is sports generated. A game I will never forget is the Super Bowl game of the Patriots versus the Falcons. I really enjoyed the game and found that I was more involved when I could message other fans. Being away from home allows me to facetime my parents and watch games with them as well. With the features of social media, I can facebook live myself at the event; that feature helps to make the event more enjoyable for my friends as well. When I was tweeting at the Super Bowl, I could tweet at other fans, follow live updates, and even tweet at the athletes. I can tweet at Tom Brady and ask him to retweet my photos and tweets. The public that athletes can engage in can in turn enhance their fan base. If I tweet something that Cam Newton or Tom Brady tweets, a follower of mine can repost the photo or tweet. This will engage the public in an way that is unlike a poster board of the past.
Before social media, people would typically watch the celebrities on television or get merchandise to support a team. It is not a question of if the fan base will increase; social media enhances anyone’s fan base. In reality, anyone can be a celebrity with the usage of social media. If you get enough followers and engage with people the publics of the world can be focused toward you and your feed. Social media has increased the celebrity and influence of other athletes to push them into careers that they would have never imagined. John Cena now stars in films and has made quite the acting resume for himself now that he starred in films that grace the main screen. When a celebrity can get a fan base apart from their athletics their net worth increases and creates a bigger opportunity of fame for them. Being so far from the east coast and my family I cannot partake in Patriot’s sports fandoms. I can only really rely on the social media that I use. Sometimes I will watch a game with my dad on speaker phone and I check updates on the game on Twitter. My family spends winter breaks skiing, and with that comes a great love for snowboarding and skiing. When it’s winter, I see my feed engaging in the accounts of sports stars like Shaun White. I check out his 1. 2 million Instagram page for style inspiration; I want to look stylish on the slopes. Having a professional validate the in style looks helps to give my wardrobe a 180. It is so cool getting to see the personal lives of athletes like David Beckham which allows me to pry into the life of Victoria Beckham and their kids. A part from social media, celebrities can seem aloof and a far; I’d likely never have known them without the applications of social media. It is almost impossible to meet every famous person ever, however for how much I watch television and sports games I want some engagement from them. Luckily now as I push forward in life, I think I want to work in social media and maybe work alongside sports teams or manage an athlete’s account.
Social media has changed the way that people watch and engage in sports. The public for sports has grown by such a degree that fans can in a sense become friends. If I post a picture with a celebrity I just met they might repost the photo which will boost my followers as well as remind them of their fan base.
