A model for the generation of public sphere-like activity in sport-themed Twitter hashtags

• Published in: Sport management review 2019-06, Vol.22 (3), p.407-418
• Main Authors: O’Hallarn, Brendan, Shapiro, Stephen L., Wittkower, D.E., Ridinger, Lynn, Hambrick, Marion E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Jürgen Habermas; Public sphere; Social media and sport; Twitter
• ISSN: 1441-3523; 1839-2083
• DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2018.06.001

•Twitter has faced significant recent criticism because of aggressive behaviors exhibited by users of the platform.•A conceptual model offers an approach for how sport-themed Twitter hashtag discussions can counter this vein of negativity.•The model suggests amplifiers and barriers to discussion enabled by Twitter hashtags. The social media site Twitter has been subject to significant recent criticism, because of some users’ propensity for behaviors such as bullying, racism and homophobia, and rhetorical excess. Critics suggest Twitter has changed from its beginnings, where it was seen as a site that promoted broad-based debate and advancement of democracy. In this conceptual paper, the authors suggest that those ideals can still be realized, and that Twitter can provide the venue and the motivation for the generation of Habermasian public spheres. The authors argue that society’s passion and consumption model for sport, along with technological affordances unique to Twitter, can promote behavior akin to public spheres, provided barriers to such discourse can be overcome. This analysis is the first systematic examination of the potential for public spheres to be realized within sport and social media and suggests the byproducts of such discussions can be tangible and measurable.