1. From Loving the Hero to Despising
From Loving the Hero to Despising
the Villain: Sports Fans, Facebook,
the Villain: Sports Fans, Facebook,
and Social Identity Threats
and Social Identity Threats
Jimmy Sanderson
Jimmy Sanderson
Department of Communication Studies
Department of Communication Studies
Clemson University
Clemson University

2. Outline
I. Introduction
I. Introduction
II. Review of Literature
II. Review of Literature
III. Methodology
III. Methodology
IV. Result
IV. Result
V. Discussion
V. Discussion
VI. Conclusion
VI. Conclusion

3. Introduction
Introduction
A. Abstract
A. Abstract
B. Background
B. Background

4. A. Abstract
A. Abstract
This research explored how University of Cincinnati
football fans used Facebook to manage a social identity
threat by conducting thematic analysis of wall postings in
the ‘‘Get Out of Our City Brian Kelly’’ Facebook group.
Results revealed that fans’ responses to this threat include
(a) rallying, (b) stigmatizing, (c) victimization, (d)
intimidation, and (e) degradation.

5. B. Background
B. Background
The football coach Brian Kelly who had brought
unprecedented success to Cincinnati resigned the team
suddenly to become the head coach of the university
of Notre Dame
Brian Kelly’s departure bring the social identity threat
to the Cincinnati as a results the Cincinnati fans made
a Facebook page “Get Out of Our City Brian Kelly”
to manage such social identity threat.

6. II. Review of Literature
II. Review of Literature
A. Sports Fans and Identification
B. Social Media Sites and Sports Fans
C. Social Identity Threats and Sports Fans

7. A. Sports Fans and Identification
A. Sports Fans and Identification
Identification occurs when media users perceive that
they share similarities with a celebrity
(Fraser & Brown, 2002; Soukup, 2006).
When athletes and teams are successful, fans more
overtly express their identification with ‘‘winners,’’
whereas they invoke distance when athletes and
teams are unsuccessful (Partridge, Wann, & Elison, 2010).
Identification creates interpersonal connections
and initiates social life satisfaction

8. A. Sports Fans and Identification (Conti.)
A. Sports Fans and Identification (Conti.)
Highly identified fans are more likely to behave abnormally
at sporting events and are heavy consumers of
confrontational sports media (Wakefield & Wann, 2006).
Sports fans’ presence on social media is not lost on sports
teams, who use these channels to engage and cultivate
relationships with fans
(Waters, Burke, Jackson, & Buning, 2011).

9. B. Social Media Sites and Sports Fans
B. Social Media Sites and Sports Fans
Social media are designed to support multi-purposes
participation.
•Community
Peer-to-peer conversation
Collaboration
(Meraz, 2009)

10. B. Social Media Sites and Sports Fans (Conti)
B. Social Media Sites and Sports Fans (Conti)
Athletes and sports figures are using social media
to encourage interaction with fans. (Sanderson, 2011)
Social media are channels where fans can distribute
community, connect with other fans, and interact with
athletes and sports figures -when social identity threats
occur.(ibid)

11. C. Social Identity Threats and Sports Fans
C. Social Identity Threats and Sports Fans
Social Identity Threats represents instances in which
individuals feel the collectives to which they belong
have been evaluated negatively. (Tajfel & Tuner, 1986)
Social Identity Threats can include:
•Value threats
•Distinctiveness threats
(Branscombe, Ellemers, Spears & Doosje, 1999)

12. C. Social Identity Threats and Sports Fans (Conti)
C. Social Identity Threats and Sports Fans (Conti)
Social Identity Threats classified
Value threat
Distinctiveness threats

13. C. Social Identity Threats and Sports Fans (Conti)
C. Social Identity Threats and Sports Fans (Conti)
Strategies used to manage social identity threats:
a)Individual mobility
b)Social creativity
c)Social competition
(Tajfel & Turner, 1979)
Highly identified members tend to incite conflict between
in-group and out-group ,and accept negative reactions from
their peers as to preserve uniqueness.

14. III. Methodology
III. Methodology
A. Data Collection
A. Data Collection
B. Data Analysis
B. Data Analysis

15. A. Data Collection
A. Data Collection
Data were obtained from wall postings in the
‘‘Get Out of Our City Brian Kelly’’ Facebook
group.
There were several reasons this particular group
was selected.
a. The most popular social media site
b. Sizeable membership
c. The group and the language used

16. B. Data Analysis
B. Data Analysis
Thematic Analysis
A qualitative analytic method for:
‘identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns
(themes) within data. It minimally organizes
and describes your data set in (rich) detail.
However, frequently it goes further than this,
and interprets various aspects of the research
topic.’Braun and Clarke, 2006, p.79

17. B. Data Analysis (Conti.)
B. Data Analysis (Conti.)
Analyzing Data
The postings were micro-analyzed and
classified into emergent categories based on the
ways that participants were reacting to this
social identity threat.
Themes were summarized and compared
to ascertain similarity, and the author compared
and reduced themes as much as possible while
still preserving meaning.

18. IV. Result
IV. Result
A. Rallying
A. Rallying
B. Stigmatizing
B. Stigmatizing
C. Victimization
C. Victimization
D. Intimidation
D. Intimidation

19. A. Rallying
A. Rallying
Rallying (Fans with optimistic reaction)
- Perceive the coach’s departure as a motivation, not a
threat.
- Encourage collective strength. (Cohesion between fans
and team)
- Convey support for the players who showed
dissatisfaction towards the coach’s resignation
announcement.

20. A. Rallying (Conti.)
A. Rallying (Conti.)
Example
1. ‘‘I hope the players use this as motivation and beat
Florida and show the country that it is the players not the
coaches who make the difference’’ (606)
2. ‘‘Let’s show him the mistake he made and CHOMP
THE GATORS’’ (570)
3. ‘‘were gunna win the sugar bowl and show him we
dnt need his sorry ass’’ (244).

21. B. Stigmatizing
B. Stigmatizing
(Fans who devalue ND team and elevate Cincinnati
team)
•Emphasize Cincinnati’s superiority
•Ridicule Notre Dame
•Position Notre Dame as the extreme opposite of
Cincinnati
•Say that Kelly’s resignation is his downhill in career
life.

22. B. Stigmatizing (Conti.)
B. Stigmatizing (Conti.)
Example
1. ‘‘notre dame has a dead football program its not
coming back and UC is here to stay. fighting irish my
butt, they’re fighting for one win these days’’ (100)
2. ‘‘notre dameผa bad football team and cincinnatiผa
good one. oh wait, that’s not an analogy . . . it’s reality’’
(987)

23. C. Victimization
C. Victimization
(Fans who feel victimized)
•Being betrayed and abandoned because of Brian Kelly’s
departure.
•Being disappointed and hurt.
•Has their expectations violated.
•Traumatized by Brian Kelly’s leave.

24. C. Victimization (Conti.)
C. Victimization (Conti.)
Example
1. ‘‘Brian Kelly, you have betrayed us’’ (141)
2. ‘‘BK lied to the players and lied to the city’’ (41)
3. ‘‘Brian Kelly is a traitor, you let everyone down’’
(219).
4. “Kelly was also labeled as ‘‘benedict kelly’’
(523)
5. ‘‘sellout’’ (45, 107)

25. D. Intimidation
D. Intimidation
(Fans who are highly identified with the team)
•Derogate Kelly by using aggressive words.
•Tend to instigate physical confrontation.

26. D. Intimidation (Conti.)
D. Intimidation (Conti.)
Example
1. ‘‘fuck brian kelly’’ (42)
2. ‘‘FUCK YOU BRIAN KELLY’’ (664)
3. ‘‘wow kelly ur an ass hole’’ (621)
4. ‘‘Brian Kelly can eat shit and die’’ (195)
5. ‘‘brian kelly is a piece of SHIT!’’ (1023)

27. E. Degradation
E. Degradation
(Fans who have lost self-respect and respect of others)
•Use misogynistic terms.
•Use Homophobic slurs.

28. E. Degradation (Conti)
E. Degradation (Conti)
Example
1. “a bitch” (156)
2. ‘‘a fucking dick’’ (14)
3. ‘‘i fucking hate you COCKSUCKER’’ (823)
4. ‘‘HEY BRIAN KELLY EAT A BAG OF DICKS
AND CHOKE ON A GIANT BLACK DILDO YOU
PIECE OF SHIT’’ (28)
5. ‘‘Brian Kelly you are a fucking douchebag liar fat
fuck!!!!!!’’ (821)

29. Discussion
Discussion
General Comment
General Comment
Limitation
Limitation
Future Research
Future Research

30. Discussion
Discussion
Social identity theory’s utility in understanding fan
behavior.
Fans’ social identity extends beyond the game and
encompasses personnel decisions.
Fans’ social identity extends beyond the game and
encompasses personnel decisions.
How group communication norms incite and reinforce
derogatory communication.

31. Discussion
Discussion
Social media intensifies rather than reduces anger.
Social media provides a populated forum for
ideologies of masculinity in sport to perpetuate.
Social media is a venue where fans selectively selfpresent their social identity after it has been threatened.
Fans ameliorated social identity by subjugating any
possible internal reasons for Kelly’s departure.

32. Limitations
Limitations
- Explored only one social media forum in response to
one sport personality leaving a team.
- Did not indicate that community members with
opposing views on Kelly’s departure interacted with
one another to persuade others to adopt their response.
The communication was overwhelmingly critical of
Kelly.

33. Future Research
Future Research
- incorporate responses from multiple social media
platforms which may contain divergent messages.
- Examine how group dialogue influences social
identity threat response.
- Question if there are certain sport figures who fans
correlate with their social identity more than others,
and whose departures are more problematic?
- Look at other behavior by sport figures that constitute
social identity threats for fans.

34. VI. Conclusion
VI. Conclusion
Social media will continue to blossom as a channel for
sports fans to communicate with one another and sports
figures. Also, it has become the prime avenue for
expressing social identity and mitigating social identity
threats. Identification with sports teams is indeed intense,
blinding fans’ better judgment, which speaks to the
importance of continuing this line of research.

35. Q&A

36. Thank You
Thank You
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Naphatchanan
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Poovorn 5510811014
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