Social Media and Sports Paradigm
For my paradigm shift essay I will be analyzing the rising
influence of social media in professional and college sports. It will first
begin with an overall description of the beginning of the “social media era”
and in specific how Twitter came to be a large social platform. After explaining this
origin, I will delve deeper into several events that affected various sports
stars in regard to social media. Using examples like Larry Johnson and Cardale
Jones, I will show how these various events caused athletes to have a changing
image. Then, I will explain how Twitter has influenced brand recognition and the
economic status of athletes. All these variables taken into account will show how
social media has contributed to the over confident and cocky attitude of various
sports stars. Previously players portrayed themselves as idols. Now with social
media, athletes are often viewed negatively and they couple this with an
overconfident attitude. Overall, I will explain how all of these factors have
affected the perception of the common athlete in today’s society and how this
has affected athletes all the way down to the high school level.
My tentative thesis will state:
“Social media has come to play a large role in the modern
day perception of an athlete by exposing various aspects of their life and thus
changing their public image, while at the same time being used as a tool for
brand recognition and bolstering economic status.”
As of now I will be using the following sources. However, additions
may be made in order to enforce the details of my essay.
Rovell, Darren. "LeBron
James-sponsored Tweets Valued at $140K, Or $1K per Character." Espn.com.
ESPN, 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Ortiz, Maria. "Twitter Gaffes
Begat Punishment for Athletes." Espn.com. ESPN, 27 July 2012. Web.
22 Oct. 2015.
Markazi, Arash. "Social Media
Is a Double-edged Sword in Sports World." Espn.com. ESPN, 21 July
2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Nelson, Amy. "Fan, Friends Connected
with Ochocinco." Espn.com. ESPN, 31 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Quinton, Sean. "Top 10 Dumbest
and Most Regrettable Athlete Tweets Ever." TheRichest.
TheRichest.com, 7 June 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
I think your topic could be very interesting to dive into. The only thing that I think your thesis is missing is a bit of the "why?" I'm curious to hear (in your thesis) about why you think the shift in social media has affected sports and what caused that actual change. Also, do you think athletes are believe they are any less idolized than a couple decades ago? I wonder if there could be a clearer contrast between idol and over-confident. Perhaps something regarding the corruption of the players. To me, players still self-idolize in sports.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic. It'll be cool to explore how social media and athletics, two very big aspects of society, intertwine themselves and affect the modern day perception of athletes. Looking forward to hearing about it!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how far reaching the effects of social media are. I'm not sure if it fits your idea for the issue, but have you considered looking at the use of commercials/sponsored ads on social media? I did notice that you seem to focus on Twitter; do any other platforms create a similar effect?
ReplyDeleteHunter, very interesting topic! At the moment, it still seems a little broad to me, however, as if there are multiple separate ideas circling about: the platforms themselves, the public persona of athletes, brand recognition, economic impacts, etc. Given all these potential tentacles that stem out from your overall topic, my only fear is that the piece will sound disjointed, not cohesive.
ReplyDeleteThis being said, keep refining your exact central theme/claim and determining if you can effectively cover its entire scope. Also, aim to determine the significance. What does this do to sports, or to fans, or to athletes themselves, or to consumer culture surrounding sports? (Often, if you have more focus with your content, it's easier to pinpoint the exact significance.)
I hope this helps, Hunter. Let me know if you have questions; I'm happy to help!