Social media has changed the nature of athlete-fan relationships and the personal branding of professional and collegiate athletes. This study explored the perceptions of international student athletes of social media for personal branding and interactions with fans post-pandemic. With the growth of social media and the factor of the COVID pandemic, athletes interact with fans less face-to-face and more virtually via social media. The authors interviewed 10 Division-1 and Division-2 international student athletes and found the four following established themes:
- social media consumption versus content creation
- effects of name, image, and likeness regulations (significantly, international student athletes are excluded from the NIL right to monetize, but still allows the opportunity for these athletes to grow their personal brands)
- personal brand building on social media
- fan interaction on social media for ISAs
The authors reference Kelman(1958) and his social influence theory, which, “stated that individuals have various circles of influence in their lives, such as athletes or celebrities, who may impact their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors, and which points to the strength of one’s social network as an indicator of one’s individual influence.”
Going into reading this article, I expected it to exclusively provide support for the positives of social media use by athletes, but it actually addresses some negatives as well. Namely, the article pointed out a new piece of information to me, that international student athletes do not have the same NIL rights as other student athletes. That said, social media still has a role for those athletes as far as generating attention for those athletes and facilitating growth of their personal brands and allowing them to connect with fans. I went into my research expecting the role of social media to be essentially the same for all collegiate athletes, however, while there are similarities, this article shows how the impact of social media can be unique for international student athletes.
This week, I had conversations with Laura Zaylea about the overall direction of my project and the makeup of my committee. Additionally, while I likely will still sign out equipment from the equipment office, I purchased a microphone that could be an option for me to use.
American Behavioral ScientistVolume 67, Issue 11, October 2023, Pages 1322-1339
© 2022 SAGE Publications
https://doi-org.libproxy.temple.edu/10.1177/00027642221118289