Paralympic athletes’ use of

Twitter to promote social change

@JoshuaPateJames Madison University

@DrRobHardinUniversity of Tennessee

#purpose

Show how Paralympic athletes can use Twitter to promote social change, specifically inclusion in sport

#dec28

#mcfadden13 consecutive tweets

Born in Russia with spina bifida

Not provided with appropriate care as a child

Adopted by a U.S. citizen

Paralympic athlete

cnn.com

#mcfaddenBronze @ 2004 Paralympic Games

High school track team

Inclusion?

Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act (2008)

#long

#long

#long

“The measure of who we are is …

… what we do with what we have.”

Vince Lombardi

#mcfadden

“Sports is my passion …

… paving access for others is my purpose.”

#twitterAllows athletes to:

Keep in contact

Communicate with followers

Access information

(Browning & Sanderson, 2012)

#twitterAllows fans to:

Connect in instant conversation

Interact over the course of sporting events

Interact in times of breaking news

Interact throughout a sport’s season

(Reichart Smith & Smith, 2012)

#twitterAllows media to:

Offer commentary

Break news

Interact with followers

Link to content

Promote material

(Sanderson & Hambrick, 2012)

#twitterWhat we know:

Sport can stimulate transformation/social change(Blauwet & Willick, 2012)

Performance success not equal to media coverage(Tomasz & Fizjoterapia, 2011)

Athletes become own, unfiltered media

#twitterCommunicate with followers

Connect in instant conversation

Offer commentary

Break news

Interact with followers

Promote material

#twitterParalympic athletes traditionally do not have a

platform

Provides athletes with a platform

#rolemodelforchange

Being a Paralympic athlete may provide these individuals with their biggest stage from which to share viewpoints.

Twitter allows those messages to be sent without gatekeepers that have existed in the past.

Media

Stereotypes

Paralympic athletes’ use of

Twitter to promote social change

@JoshuaPateJames Madison University

@DrRobHardinUniversity of Tennessee