Sport, Racism and Social Media

The virtual stages of hate: Using Goffman’s work to conceptualise the motivations for online hate

“…Invisibility affects behaviour which can result in hate as aggressors are physically removed from their victims. As Farrington et al (2015) state, 'If one cannot see others' physical expressions, one is less immediately aware of their dislike or distaste of our actions'. In short, online communication allows one to keep one's eyes averted which compromises the Goffmanian model as it is grounded in physical settings for human interaction.…”

“…Hate can be espoused not only through text and images, but also through online live-streaming platforms. Although Farrington et al (2015) and Suler (2004) have stated that perpetrators are unable to physically see their victims' reactions due to online invisibility, they can still be observed through representation, that is text, emoticons, videos, Gifs, etc. Despite being physically removed, perpetrators of online hate are still able to understand the consequences of their online expressions.…”

“…With the benefit of hindsight, this predication could not be further from the truth as Web 2.0 and social media platforms, in particular, have revolutionised the way contemporary audiences communicate (Nakamura, 2008). Social media dominates our daily experiences as we use these platforms to construct our virtual identities, create and develop friendships, locate job opportunities, play games and consume the latest news (Farrington et al, 2015;Lind, 2019;Moore et al, 2017). Merunkova and Slerka (2019: 244-245) state that 'Three-quarters of Facebook users log in daily' while 91% of teenagers go 'online every day, which is an indication of the importance of cyberspace in their lives'.…”

Virtual technologies as tools of maltreatment

“…The potential to experience abuse in virtual spaces can be magnified for a number of reasons. These include, but are not limited to: increasingly high levels of Internet use (The Office of Communications [Ofcom] (2018) suggests that one in five people spend more than 40 hours online per week), a lack of regulation or policing in online spaces (Farrington, Hall, Kilvington, Price & Saeed, 2014), and the likelihood for users to interact with individuals who are unknown to them and thus establish virtual relationships with users who they may never meet in a physical space (Della Cioppa et al, 2015). Through changing the way in which people communicate and form relationships, we thus increase the pervasiveness and likelihood of experiencing abuse and victimisation online.…”

The Politics of Discourse on the Fields of Dreams: Political Messaging and the Mediated Representation of Sports

“…Indeed, sexism and racism are some of the scourges that social media have revealed-or exposed more blatantly. 11 Last, new issues have appeared regarding the status of athletes, and especially student-athletes, as representatives of their university's brand -a role that can sometimes come into conflict with their identities as citizens entitled to their own political views.…”