Self-presentation of Iranian football players on Instagram during the 2018 World Cup

ABSTRACT

Members of social network sites are able to decide how to present themselves to other members. An earlier study has suggested that athletes may put up posts to describe themselves in their various roles. The aim of this study is to gain further insight by extending from the earlier conceptual framework. The posts of 14 Iranian footballer who played in the Russia 2018 World Cup from April to August were analysed. Content analysis found that the posts could be classified into four different categories namely Athlete, Family, Personal and Publicity. In addition, it was found that over time, there were changes in the proportion of posts in each category. Athletes were more likely to post on their lives as an athlete before and after a major sports event. This suggests that athletes are managing their personal brand on social media.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Perrin, ‘Social media usage’.

2. Duffett, ‘Facebook advertising’s influence’; and Gangadharbatla, ‘Facebook me’.

3. Boyd and Ellison, ‘Social network sites’.

4. Lunden, fastest-growing social site; Ting et al., ‘The Use of Instagram’.

5. Dogtiev, ‘Instagram Revenue and Usage’.

6. Kim et al., ‘Do you prefer, Pinterest or Instagram?’; and Sheldon and Bryant, ‘Instagram’.

7. Blight et al., ‘Sense of community on Twitter and Instagram’; Sheldon and Bryant, ‘Instagram’; Teo et al., ‘Marketing on Instagram’; and Ting et al., ‘The Use of Instagram’.

8. Geurin-Eagleman and Burch, ‘Communicating via photographs’; Hutchins, ‘Acceleration of Media Sport Culture’; and Pegoraro, ‘Athletes on Twitter’.

9. Laurell and Söderman, ‘Sports, Storytelling and Social Media’; and Ojo, ‘Changing the Game in Nigeria’.

10. Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’.

11. Lee and Leng, ‘Marketing of the 2014 Formula One’; and Leng and Chiu, ‘The SEA Games Myanmar 2013ʹ.

12. Brandtzaeg and Lüders, ‘Time Collapse in Social Media’.

13. Chehabi, ‘Politics of Football in Iran’; and Jalili Farahani, Football Information.

14. Chehabi, ‘Politics of Football in Iran’; and Fozooni, ‘Religion, Politics and Class’, 367.

15. Chehabi, ‘Politics of Football in Iran’, 250.

16. Cooper, Football Against the Enemy, 408.

17. Ghadimi and Bagheri, ‘Cultural and Social Effects of Sport Development in Iran’, 12–13.

18. Abdolahian, ‘Football and Discovering the Signs of Cultural Change’, 94.

19. Ghadimi and Bagheri, ‘Cultural and Social Effects of Sport Development in Iran’, 119.

20. Ibid., 114.

21. Paul and Coles, ‘World Cup 2018’.

22. Hutchins, ‘The Acceleration of Media Sport Culture’.

23. Boyd and Ellison, ‘Social Network Sites’.

24. Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.

25. Ibid.

26. DeAndrea and Walther, ‘Online and Offline Self-presentations’; and Laurell and Söderman, ‘Sports, Storytelling and Social Media’.

27. DeAndrea and Walther, ‘Online and Offline Self-presentation’; and Pegoraro, ‘Athletes on Twitter’.

28. Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’, 352.

29. Lebel and Danylchuk, ‘How Tweet it is’; Sanderson, ‘Blog is Serving its Purpose’; and Weathers et al., ‘Tweet Life of Erin and Kirk’.

30. Blight et al., ‘Sense of Community on Twitter and Instagram’; Sheldon and Bryant, ‘Instagram’; and Ting et al., ‘The Use of Instagram’.

31. Laurell and Söderman, ‘Sports, Storytelling and Social Media’.

32. Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’, 351.

33. Brandtzaeg and Lüders, ‘Time Collapse in Social Media’.

34. Lee and Leng, ‘Marketing of the 2014 Formula One’; and Leng and Chiu, ‘SEA Games Myanmar 2013ʹ.

35. Riff et al., Analysing Media Messages.

36. Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life; and Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’.

37. Lacy et al., ‘Issues and Best Practices in Content Analysis’.

38. Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. Geurin-Eagleman and Burch, ‘Communicating via Photographs’; and Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’.

42. Babiak et al., ‘Investigation into Professional Athlete Philanthropy’; and Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’.

43. Lebel and Danylchuk, ‘How Tweet it is’; Pegoraro, ‘Athletes on Twitter’; and Sanderson, ‘Blog is Serving its Purpose’.

44. Smith and Sanderson, ‘I’m Going to Instagram It’.

45. Lee and Leng, ‘Marketing of the 2014 Formula One’; and Leng and Chiu,‘Th SEA Games Myanmar 2013ʹ.