Telematics and Informatics<\/a>,<\/em> found that after a team victory, fans will bask in reflected glory on Facebook and Twitter. After a loss, however, fans separate from the team by cutting off reflected failure in their online comments.<\/p>\n\u201cAudiences aren\u2019t just passive couch potatoes, like we used to worry about television watchers,\u201d says David Atkin, professor of communication and a co-author of the study. \u201cIt turns out we\u2019re busy and responding. And new media allow for more interactivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their study, researchers asked 630 participants to respond on social media to a scenario involving the participant\u2019s favorite National Football League (NFL) team in a pivotal game against their perceived biggest rival, with playoff implications at stake.<\/p>\n
Participants made up a diverse group, 47 percent male and 53 percent female, who used social media networking sites for an average of 125 minutes per week. Most \u2013 97 percent \u2013 had a Facebook account, and 75 percent used Twitter.<\/p>\n
Notably, victorious outcomes resulted in more posts on Facebook than on Twitter, according to the study. The finding suggests that because profiles on Facebook are often connected to one\u2019s actual identity \u2013 unlike Twitter, in which \u201chandles\u201d often resemble a formed screen name \u2013 individuals appear to deliberately seek to associate their actual name with success.<\/p>\n
The finding further illustrates how the use of social media serves as a viable, deliberate way to promote association with an \u201cin\u201d group.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a fan\u2019s team identification increases, so do their reactionary behaviors on Facebook and Twitter,\u201d the researchers say. \u201cThe study indicates that social networking is a valid way for fans to further identify with their favorite sports teams, and demonstrates the importance of social media in the lives of sports fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The social media interaction on Facebook and Twitter is one of several networking options fans employ in the 21st century, says Atkin. Fans are also involved with fantasy leagues, write blogs as \u201cpseudo journalists,\u201d and post comments on team message boards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know everything has to be re-conceptualized in the paradigm of internet and social media, which are the biggest predictor of social capital or being involved in a community,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
The researchers note that there is growing concern about \u201cdysfunctional fandom\u201d on social media, which has given fans unparalleled access to athletes and members of sports organizations in an anonymous way that has never existed before. \u201cDysfunctional fandom\u201d could be explored with further studies, including examining the effect of anonymity in online settings and how it allows individuals to go beyond traditionally accepted limits of fan behavior.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, professional sports leagues continue to market their social media in an effort to promote their sport, expand their audience, and enhance the sense of community with their younger fans, who are key to their fan growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the leagues are interested in building in more interactive venues,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer just a matter of attendance. You have different ways to watch and react to it 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers included former UConn graduate students Michael Mudrick of York College of Pennsylvania, and Michael Miller of MCPHS University (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences<\/span>) in Boston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Social networking is a valid way for fans to further identify with their favorite sports teams.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":120167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2459,2076,1875,2225],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1918],"class_list":["post-119890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-graduate-students","category-research","category-grad-school","category-uconn-storrs"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 05:51:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119890"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120174,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119890\/revisions\/120174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/120167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119890"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=119890"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=119890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}