{"title":"Breaking the disability: Turkish disabled athletes’ self-presentation performances on Instagram","authors":"Muammer Öztürk","doi":"10.1177/20570473241253630","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Despite the abundance of studies exploring athletes’ self-presentation on social media, there is a notable scarcity of research focused on the self-presentation performances of disabled athletes within these digital spaces. This study investigates the self-presentation performances of disabled athletes representing Turkey in international competitions, on Instagram. By employing a netnographic approach, 645 highlighted stories from the Instagram of 5 athletes (female = 3 and male = 2) were subjected to analysis. The findings of the study reveal a distinction: Female athletes tend to emphasize their on-stage performances, whereas male athletes direct attention to their off-stage performances. In their on-stage performances, athletes gravitate toward showcasing posts related to awards earned from competitions. Conversely, in their off-stage performances, they opt to highlight familial and interpersonal relationships. This study has determined that disabled athletes prefer to highlight their on-stage performances on Instagram. This platform functions as a realm of validation for their accomplishments.","PeriodicalId":44233,"journal":{"name":"Communication and the Public","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Communication and the Public","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20570473241253630","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Despite the abundance of studies exploring athletes’ self-presentation on social media, there is a notable scarcity of research focused on the self-presentation performances of disabled athletes within these digital spaces. This study investigates the self-presentation performances of disabled athletes representing Turkey in international competitions, on Instagram. By employing a netnographic approach, 645 highlighted stories from the Instagram of 5 athletes (female = 3 and male = 2) were subjected to analysis. The findings of the study reveal a distinction: Female athletes tend to emphasize their on-stage performances, whereas male athletes direct attention to their off-stage performances. In their on-stage performances, athletes gravitate toward showcasing posts related to awards earned from competitions. Conversely, in their off-stage performances, they opt to highlight familial and interpersonal relationships. This study has determined that disabled athletes prefer to highlight their on-stage performances on Instagram. This platform functions as a realm of validation for their accomplishments.