‘I shared the joy’: sport-related social support and communality on Instagram

Abstract

The popularity of sharing photographs on digital platforms has increased significantly due to the communicative affordances of mobile media and the emergence of photosharing applications, such as Instagram. In this paper, we examine how social support and communality can be built and reinforced through digital visual communication. We focus especially on photo sharing in the context of recreational climbing and trail running. In a qualitative study with Finnish climbers and runners, we asked what meanings sports practitioners ascribe to the practice of sharing and observed how they communicate these meanings through photographs. The results indicate that different types of visual content build and reinforce communality in distinct ways. Whereas inspirational photographs drive practitioners to explore, motivational photographs pull practitioners to keep going through goal setting and peer support. We conclude that visual communication on Instagram mediates a stream of momentary encounters between practitioners that merge into communally meaningful experiences. Thus, we assert that in the context of recreational sport subcultures, photo sharing not only facilitates social relationships but can be perceived as a meaningful social practice that is integral to reinforcing physical activity. Veera Ehrlén is a doctoral student in the Department of Language and Communication Studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research focuses on new media, digital culture, and network-based communication in the context of leisure-time activities. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9790-1865. Mikko Villi is a professor in the Department of Language and Communication Studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. His work focuses on the contemporary context for distributing and sharing media content, especially on social media platforms. He has also gathered knowledge and expertise on themes related to new communication technology and forms of communication, in particular on visual and mobile media.

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