Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Research Paper

First Advisor

Joe Donnelly

Abstract

Social media is a platform that engages humans to connect virtually. With the rise in social media, audience members are able to portrait themselves into a figure of their choosing. With this senior project, I present three professional athletes, Lonzo Ball, LeBron James, and Antonio Brown; all who use social media as a platform to create a digital identity. The goals of my senior project answered the following questions, How do modern athletes manage their personal brand through social media?” I answered this question by analysing a constant theme that is published in each athlete’s feed. As a result of using social media, I also answered the question of how society views or reacts to these athletes based on what they post or portrait themselves as. In my project, my methodologies for this project are longitudinal and exploratory; therefore I collected and analysed these athletes net-worth. In doing so, I looked at the sponsors each member is signed with and viewed the attention society gives when watching a new commercial on television, or as an ad on their social media feed. For the exploratory part of my project I conducted interviews with semi-professional athlete, Trey Tiscareño, and social media campaign manager Madison White, to discuss how and why social media is used as a marketing tool and the positive and negative effects of using it to market their personal brand. My research and project is reflected in a 45 minute podcast. Discussing the collected data and view how social media allows these athletes to gain and engage with a broader audience, to express themselves through the screens of our phones. Viewing these athletes perform in their respected field is not enough, we all want to know how these athletes perform off the field.

Comments

WSP Major: Behavioral Health Studies in a Social Context

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