THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND THE CAPABILITY OF FRAMING AN ATHLETICS PROGRAM: A CREATIVE PROJECT PROMOTING THE NCAA DIVISION III PENN STATE HARRISBURG MEN’S SOCCER TEAM

The purpose of this thesis creative project was to design and compute a social media sports marketing campaign via Instagram and Twitter for the NCAA Division III Penn State Harrisburg Men’s Soccer Team while researching and identifying the best social media practices and exploring the mass communication ideology of framing theory and grounded theory through quantitative and qualitative survey research. Based on previous scholarly research and professional sports franchise social media campaigns, it supports the idea that using platforms like Instagram and Twitter can frame institutions as high-ranking athletics. After the creative project concluded, as of March 7, 2022 the Instagram account had grown from 298 to 602 followers and the Twitter account had grown from 281 to 344 followers. The project identified the most effective form to frame the team as a highly-ranked program was through Instagram, and the best social media practices was posting video content that shared product related attributes. These attributes include footage of the team’s success, performance and news. Through grounded theory, quantitative and qualitative research, the project reported that 87.3% of survey participants agree that Division III athletics is viewed less over other divisions. This proves there is a negative stereotype of Division III athletics. Furthermore, the qualitative data shared consistent negative perception themes. These themes were: lack of coverage, lack of funds, and a false understanding of Division III athletic commitments. Finally, out of 134 survey participants, 74.6% of participants agree the social media campaign positively shaped their views of the NCAA Division III Penn State Harrisburg Men’s Soccer Team, ultimately supporting the idea that the creative project had successfully reversed any negative perception of Division III athletics.

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Work Title THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND THE CAPABILITY OF FRAMING AN ATHLETICS PROGRAM: A CREATIVE PROJECT PROMOTING THE NCAA DIVISION III PENN STATE HARRISBURG MEN’S SOCCER TEAM
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Oscar Cartagena
Keyword
  1. social media
  2. soccer
  3. Instagram
  4. twitter
  5. framing theory
  6. grounded theory
  7. NCAA Division III
License CC BY 4.0 (Attribution)
Work Type Masters Culminating Experience
Acknowledgments
  1. Craig Welsh
Publication Date 2022
DOI doi:10.26207/tkrj-1912
Deposited May 04, 2022

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Updated
  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • Craig Welsh
  • Added Creator Oscar Cartagena
  • Added Creator Emily Mross
  • Added Cartagena_Oscar_MA_Communications.pdf
  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  • Published
  • Updated

Version 2
published

  • Created
  • Deleted Creator Emily Mross
  • Published
  • Updated