Tweeting the Game
Is live-tweeting reshaping the NHL fandom experience?
By Naila JinnahMA Candidate, Queen’s University
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
Issue• Digital fandom & NHL• What is “live
tweeting” anyway?• Cultural citizenship
and fan performance on Twitter
• How does live tweeting address live broadcasting issues for NHL fans?
• Do we need new frameworks to understand cultural citizenship in this context?
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
PeterRobertCasey.com
Outline
Digital Fandom 2.0
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
• Globalisation = increased fan access• Twitter: immediate interactive multimedia tool• Connecting through #Hashtags • Cross-platform game-watching experience• Audience Producer
• Sport as “simultaneously embodied and mediated experience.” (Hutchins & Mikosza, 2010)
The NHL and Social Media
• Most educated, tech savvy, youngest fans (Simmons Market Research)
• New social media policy in the NHL• Teams, league employees and players are
encouraged to have a Twitter presence• Used by fans, athletes, teams, reporters to:
– BIRG, CORF, and discuss sport & specific game– Obtain and/or share information– Ask for/respond to interaction (replies, retweets)
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
The Live-Tweeting Experience
• Live-tweeting is posting regular updates related to a specific event (conference, game)– Often uses specific hashtags– Audience: other attendees, remote participants– In sport, often used by those who cannot watch
or listen to game feed• Who belongs to this “live tweeting” culture? • How is this different than broadcasting and
does it require new conceptual frameworks?NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
Cultural Citizenship and Twitter
• Twitter as a new form of “’instantaneous’ representation” of a culture, including its power inequalities.
• Changes in audience demands (Rowe, 2004b):– Access to sporting texts/events – Stability and reliability – Innovation and quality – Cultural critique and diversity
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
Broadcasting vs. Twitter
• Access to sporting texts/events – Fewer barriers to entry ($, time, equipment)
• Stability and reliability – Unstable during major breaking news events
• Innovation and quality – “Citizen media” produced by highly engaged fans
• Cultural critique and diversity– Immediate, ongoing critique of culture and coverage
NASSM Conference, London, ON, 2011
Enacting Live Tweeting Culture
• How do issues of cultural citizenship become enacted through live tweeting?– Varies by sports-fan
identification levels– Identity performance– Impression management
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
• Fans connect across traditional citizenship lines
More to consider…
• What is this culture whose citizens we’re trying to define?– Dynamic, still evolving culture
• Twitter as sport consumption tool is still a budding concept
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
Thoughts?
Email me:[email protected]
Tweet me:@nailaj
See this presentation again:www.slideshare.net/nailaj
NASSS Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2011
Thank you for your attention throughout my presentation!
