Understanding the LPGA Tour Top Six Korean Golfers’ Self-Presentation on Social Media: A Content Analysis of Instagram Posts

Abstract

With a growing number of people using social media such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, it has become extremely important for professional athletes to build and promote their personal brands through social media. The purpose of this study was to understand how LPGA Tour Korean golfers use social media for self-presentation. Through content analysis, the self-presentation forms of the top six Korean LPGA Tour golfers were examined. The result showed that the golfers are more likely to use the form of the front stage rather than the backstage. The number of likes and comments is higher when golfers post backstage photos and write photo stories in both Korean and English languages on Instagram. This study contributes to the field of sport social media research theoretically with new subcategorization to Goffman’s self-presentation and suggests a new insight into personal brand marketing strategies via social media for both athletes and sponsors.

Digital selves: A cross-cultural examination of athlete social media self-presentation during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

“…For instance, Koa and Abu Issa (2022) explored Arab athletes' Instagram posts through the lens of the self-presentation theory, finding no significant difference between Arab male and female athletes regarding gender displays. More recently, Bae et al (2023) investigated how six Korean LPGA golfers use social media for selfportrayals within the theoretical framework of self-presentation theory, finding that images featuring an athlete's everyday life receive more comments and likes compared to that featuring their athletic and business endeavors.…”