Understanding adolescent sport participation through online social media

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the potential role and use of online social media to influence sport participation in youth aged 12 to 17 years by responding to two specific research questions: what is the nature of the online “marketplace” among youth?; and what is the nature of adolescent sport behavior as revealed through activities on online social media?Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines and then implements the research methodology of netnography to achieve its purpose. Netnography involves a researcher joining an online forum, e‐tribe or other open‐source social media to observe and record the discussions for analysis.FindingsThe overarching finding is that online discourse related to sport participation among youth is very limited. When discussion does take place, five themes emerge: benefits, advice‐seeking, finding common interests, learning new sports, and challenges.Research limitations/implicationsThis research provides impetus for future work in the content area and in the use of the netnography method. It is limited by the lack of online content on the topic area by the target group.Practical implicationsThe paper's results provide important understanding, direction and guidance to sport administrators working for government, sport organizations and organizations who market their products and services to youth through sport.Originality/valueThis paper is original in two respects: the use of netnography as the research method in this context, and the focus on social media and sport participation in youth.