TWITTER AND SPORTS COMMUNICATION: THE EFFECT ON ATHLETES, ORGANIZATIONS AND THE TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Abstract

Since its advent, Twitter has had a significant impact on sports communication. This essay examines the effect that Twitter has had on athletes, sports leagues and the media itself. It includes a review of recent and relevant literature and analysis of recent events—including the scandal surrounding former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. Twitter provides athletes, as well as sports organizations, with a direct channel of communication to the public when the media previously acted as a middleman. Athletes now have more control over the image they project. Agenda setting and uses and gratification theories are applied in the explanation of motives for what information is and is not disseminated by sports organizations. This becomes especially evident in case studies on lockouts. Because of this, Twitter has eroded the media’s gatekeeping ability. This has led to a shift to what is referred to as “gatewatching.” With the traditional media having less control over the dissemination of information, it instead acts as an overseeing entity for the crowd-driven process that Twitter encourages.