Fragments of us, fragments of them

Social media, nationality and US perceptions of the 2014 Fifa World Cup

Bibliographic Data

ID12675279
AuthorsAndrew C Billings (0000-0003-4818-5799, University of Alabama, corresponding author), Lauren M Burch (0000-0003-0397-5439, Indiana University – Purdue University Columbus), Matthew H Zimmerman (Auburn University)
Year2014
Volume16
Issue5-6
Pages726-744
Publication date2014-09-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSoccer and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1466-0970 • E-ISSN: 1743-9590
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14660970.2014.963307
OpenAlexW2043467533
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited33

International sporting events often lead people to define protagonists and antagonists in the simplest of terms: the in-group is the home-nation team and the out-group is any other nation attempting to thwart the potential success of the home nation. This analysis involves the classification of 7498 comments rendered via the social media platform Twitter during the four 2014 FIFA World Cup matches involving the United States. Contrary to many other international sporting content analyses, results found that the attributions for success and/or failure did not differ between the United States and the opposing teams, yet the US players were more likely to receive commentary pertaining to their appearance and their emotions. Moreover, non-US players and teams were more likely to receive commentary outside of the realm of attribution of success and failure or personality and physicality. Implications of the findings are offered on multiple levels

Advertising · Attribution · Business · Immigration · Media studies · Nationality · Perception · Political science · Public relations · Realm · Social media · Sociology · Law · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society