SPORTS MOTIVATION AND USE OF LOCATIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA THROUGH GPS TECHNOLOGY

 The present study is an effort to check out the association among motivation and the use of Location-based social media by the young athletes of private universities at Lahore. The lack of communication bound the sports community and young athletes. To fill this gap location-based social media is the best option because athletes and fans can share sports related activities, comments, photos, videos etc during different matches. This problem statement is based on personal observation and experience of the researcher. The rapid growth of social media and location-based social media platforms has highlighted the need to understand the audiences that are utilizing these mediums and the types of social sharing that they are involved with. Sports organizations and personnel can utilize that information to plan and conduct sports related activities accordingly. Motivate and attract more people towards sports so that they can engage in sports and get benefits of healthy and active lifestyle. Purpose of the study: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of sports motivation with using location-based social media by young male and female athletes at the university level. Methodology: The Quantitative / Survey research was carried out through online web generated surveys/forms in two private sector universities, UOL (University of Lahore) and UCP (University of Central Punjab). Stratified sampling was done. A total number of 101 young athletes between 18-39 years of age from these two private sector universities participated in this study.  Verified rating scales about motivation and usage of location-based social media were used to find out the association of sports motivation with using location-based social media by the young athletes at the university level. Main Findings: Findings revealed that there is a significant positive relation between the sports motivation and the use of location-based social media by young athletes thus promoting the sports community desires and popularity among these athletes. Not much research is done to explore the location-based social media use in sports activities. The study will also be helpful for sports field and associations to make strong communication among sports or young athletes. Application of this study: Sports authorities can get detailed information about athletes, fans, coaches and players. Chalk out the trends, likes and dislikes of people of specific areas. It will be easy for them to offer their services and products accordingly.   Novelty of this study: Research on location-based social media is very rare internationally and almost a new area for research in Pakistan.