Final Papper by Reggie Hodge

 

Final Paper

 

Twitter is a place where you can see everything. Twitter is a hub where people from all walks of life come together. It’s an opinionated mess, great comedy show, and wild wild west all together. It’s a lot of different communities and sides of twitter. The NBA side of twitter is one of the only ones to have a bearing on real like. As a person that has been following twitter discourse for a very long time, I’m interested in twitter discourse. It is a fickle and fluid place where narrative about a player can change week to week. The phenomenon that is NBA twitter is one of a kind. So, I spent my time analyzing nab discourse. After my research I can say that NBA twitter discourse has the power to shape the narrative around player and foster narrative can help NBA players pulpal to superstardom.

 

In the modern sports landscape, social media platforms, particularly Twitter, have transformed the dynamics of fan interaction, media coverage, and how athlete narratives are from. This literature review dives into the research of exploring the impact of Twitter discourse on shaping the narratives around players and building superstars for the NBA.

Twitter serves as an instantaneous platform for fans, journalists, pundits, and athletes to engage in discourse, disseminate information, and construct narratives around NBA players (Kassing & Sanderson, 2010). Twitter has emerged as a primary platform for sports fans to engage in real-time conversations, share opinions, and consume news related to their favorite teams and players. Studies (Hutchins, 2014; Sanderson & Hambrick, 2012) have highlighted the rapid dissemination of information on Twitter and its role in shaping the discourse surrounding sports events, including those involving NBA players. The real-time nature of Twitter facilitates the rapid dissemination of news, opinions, and reactions, thus influencing how players are perceived and discussed within the digital sports sphere.

Research suggests that Twitter discourse can significantly influence the public perception of NBA players (Barnes et al., 2015). Positive or negative sentiments expressed by fans, journalists, or even fellow players on Twitter can contribute to the formation of a player's image and reputation. Moreover, the virality and reach of tweets can amplify certain narratives, impacting how players are portrayed in the media (Horne et al., 2020). Research underscores the pivotal role of Twitter in the branding and image management strategies of NBA players (Ward & Williams, 2015). Through strategic use of Twitter, players can cultivate their personal brand, engage with fans, and shape their public persona. Conversely, missteps or controversies on Twitter can tarnish a player's image and influence the overarching narrative surrounding their career (Horne et al., 2020).

Twitter often serves as a catalyst for controversies surrounding NBA players, with debates and discussions quickly escalating into trending topics (Sanderson & Hambrick, 2012). Whether it's off-court scandals, disputes with teammates, or on-court performances, Twitter amplifies these controversies, shaping public discourse and potentially altering the narrative surrounding the players involved (Barnes et al., 2015). Twitter amplifies both positive and negative narratives surrounding NBA players, thereby impacting their stardom and marketability (Kim et al., 2015). Positive performances, philanthropic endeavors, or moments of sportsmanship can elevate a player's status within the Twitterverse, whereas controversies, poor performances, or off-court incidents can lead to backlash and scrutiny, shaping public perceptions and narratives (Barnes et al., 2015).

Twitter serves as a conduit for direct interaction between NBA players and fans, fostering a sense of intimacy and connectivity that transcends traditional media channels (Hutchins, 2014). By engaging with fans through tweets, replies, and interactions, players can cultivate loyal fan bases, enhance their marketability, and reinforce positive narratives surrounding their careers and achievements. Twitter discourse is not confined to fans and athletes but also encompasses sports journalists, pundits, and celebrities who contribute to shaping the narrative around NBA players (Sanderson & Hambrick, 2012). Research suggests that the tweets and commentary of these influential figures can shape public opinion and contribute to the narrative surrounding players (Hutchins, 2014). Moreover, Twitter has democratized sports journalism to some extent, giving rise to a multitude of voices that can influence the discourse. Tweets from prominent media personalities or celebrity endorsements can amplify a player's visibility, bolster their stardom, and influence the trajectory of their career.

The literature reviewed underscores the profound influence of Twitter discourse on shaping the narrative and fostering stardom around NBA players. From branding and image management to fan engagement and media influence, Twitter serves as a dynamic platform that significantly impacts how players are perceived, discussed, and celebrated within the digital sports landscape. Future research should continue to explore the evolving role of social media in shaping athlete narratives and stardom in the context of professional sports.

 

            I will be doing my analysis over NBA twitter discourse. NBA twitter discourse is a endless well I would be looking forever if I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. The first step I will take for gathering data is going through NBA twitter discourse for a week, I will be doing this to look for a pattern on how players are talked about or to find if there is a connection to how players are talked about. I will look into NBA players as a conglomerate, and I will look into specific players to see if the discourse about the player changes throughout different times of their career. I will do this by searching for a single player name in the search bar then I will scroll through and read tweets about the player from different years. After I go through twitter to find patterns or connections, I will separate these patterns or connection into groups as many groups as needed. After that I will see how each group is perceived by the media and if the discourse of twitter carries over from outside of twitter. Finally, I will see how the discourse that originated on twitter affects the player.

            So far I have begun to see patterns throughout twitter discourse. I began to see over time people positive opinion often turn negative over time. Gather more data I want to see if these patterns continue. I will look into see if this discourse haves a lasting effect of it just stops here, Furthermore, I want to see if all payers go this same pattern as Jason Tatum love and then hate. After more searching, I have found enough data to properly complete analyzing complete my method. The data that I have found I started to see a pattern. The pattern I seen is a player often comes into the NBA with a lot of positive twitter discourse around them. From here the positive discourse about a player can continue or it can become negative. I also found that some players are immune to this up and down discourse. I gathered the data from the twitter discourse and analyzed it. After analyzing it I put twitter discourse around a player into three different categories theses category are rise, fall, and limbo. The rise is usually at the beginning of their career it not always at the beginning of a player career it can happen later in there career but this is rare. The rise is when twitter discourse is mostly positive about a player. The player can do no wrong and everything they do people want to hype up. During the rise players often get compared to past legends. For example, of the rise Anthoney Edwards is a young athletic shooting guard that twitter discourse love and he often get compared to Michael Jordan. The fall comes after the rise. This is the point when twitter discourse becomes negative. This is the worst point to be at for a player it gets real nasty when a player is on the fall. When a player is on the fall everything, they can do is under microscope. A player can have 4 good games and one bad game and twitter discourse is going to focus on the one bad game. The fall does not only stay to on court performance it will go to one’s personal life to if it’s something to criticize. An example of a player on the fall is Jason Tateum. He is considering a playoff choker by twitter discourse after have multiple great games in the playoffs but because he had a couple bad games that’s all twitter cares about. The last group is limbo, a place where the majority of NBA players are. There are two different types of players in limbo really good players and average players. The average players are in limbo because most NBA fans don’t know average player, they are considered role players by the NBA and role player do not get that much recognition. The second type of player that are in this is group are really good players these are the superstars of the league, these players have accomplished all there is to in the NBA. They have won Mvp, championship and are multi times Allstars player such as Lebron, Curry, and Kd. The impact of being in a specific group can be seen on talk shows and sponsorships. Players on the rise get talked about more on talk shows and often get more sponsorships and commercials. If a player goes to the rise to the fall the amount that the player is seen outside of NBA games goes down such as Ja Morant who was one of the biggest young players on the rise, but he got in to off court issues and got suspended after that he was not promoted and didn’t get any more ads. On the aspect of building a super star discover that it’s a combination of be on the rise with twitter discourse, player performance, and a positive narrative. Narrative that starts on twitter have so much power because nothing that power on twitter stays on twitter. This is due to the extreme spreadable of twitter. Once a narrative leaves twitter it pops up on Instagram and TikTok in forms of memes and videos. Then the casual fans consume the narrative and to that causally fan that narrative becomes true. With it being more causally fans then hard core fans with a narrative that started from twitter discourse becomes that players truth.

            NBA twitter discourse for a player is more important than you may have thought. With the analyzing of the phenome that is NBA twitter discourse. I have I show that Nab twitter discourse builds the narrative around a player. These narratives start from an opinion that snowball and have a bandwagon effect. Now depending on if the bandwagon effect is positive, negative or balance out determine what the state of discourse around a player. The states of twitter discourse are rise, fall, and limbo. While positive twitter disclosure is responsible for the 2 out of the 3 pieces for a player to elevate being a superstar. The two twitter discourses are responsible for are the rise twitter discourse state, and a positive narrative which source most like coming from NBA twitter discourse. The one that is independent is the players performance. With amalgamation of my research and analysis of NBA twitter disclosure I have determined NBA twitter discourse has the power to shape the narrative around player and foster narrative can help NBA players propel to superstardom.

           

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Barnes, S. B., Lescault, A. M., & O'Brien, D. (2015). "Not just about the game": Media representations and Twitter reactions to the Richard Sherman postgame interview. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 39(3), 292–307.

Horne, J. E., Hardy, J., & Johnson, S. D. (2020). ‘#FreeMeekMill’: A content analysis of Twitter discourse surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers and the NBA. Communication & Sport, 8(1), 49–68.

Hutchins, B. (2014). Sports fans, Twitter, and the #Ashes: A comparative analysis. Communication & Sport, 2(4), 411–426.

Kassing, J. W., & Sanderson, J. (2010). Twitterizing the NBA: The use of social media in the National Basketball Association. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3(4), 492–502.

Kim, Y., Willis, L. A., & Zhang, N. (2015). A qualitative analysis of Twitter and college football fan engagement. International Journal of Sport Communication, 8(4), 485–506.

Sanderson, J., & Hambrick, M. E. (2012). Media choice and its effects on the National Basketball Association: The role of Twitter in the relationship between media and sports. International Journal of Sport Management, 13(2), 130–150.

Ward, M., & Williams, D. (2015). The social media sports playbook: Tweeting your way to a successful business. Routledge.