1. #WorldSeries Wendi Muhonen Queens University of Charlotte COMM601 Vlog#5

2. Background This presentation provides an overview of a paper that represents the intersection of two of my main interests: baseball and communication. I will provide a brief synopsis of “#WorldSeries: An Empirical Examination of a Twitter Hashtag During a Major Sporting Event.”

3. Overview • Study rationale and research questions • Methodology • Coding • Results • Discussion • Theoretical implications • Practical implications • Limitations • Future research • Conclusion

4. Study rationale & research questions The intent of the study is to understand who is using Twitter hashtags and how they are using them to promote events • Who is using #Worldseries? • How is #Worldseries being used? • When interactivity takes place who is being interactive?

5. Methodology… Content analysis through using a social media data collection tool known as DiscoverText

6. Coding • 17,404 total tweets during 2011 World Series • Selected every 12th tweet for analysis • Selected 1,450 tweets total • Determined whoused #Worldseries hashtag • Determined how the hashtag was used

7. Results Who used #WorldSeries? How did they use it?

8. Discussion The uses and gratifications theory was used to evaluate the outcomes and gratifications sought by using the #WorldSeries hashtag This research indicates fanship and interactivity are the gratifications

9. Implications Theoretical Implications • Using broader content analysis instead of single Twitter feed enabled more descriptive coding for users • Survey methodology may also have been useful Practical Implications • How various sports can better engage their fanbase • MLB players engage directly with their fans • How to improve advertising efforts using hashtags

10. Limitations • DiscoverText effective at capturing tweets but missed retweets • Limited time period: Tweets outside of specific time period were not recorded

11. Future research & conclusions • Research can be used for similar studies for NBA finals, Stanley Cup, and Super Bowl • Findings will help educate on gratifications of Twitter users during sporting events • Social media use is a developing research area • Potential benefits for sports organizations for using hashtags more • Solid understanding of how hashtags are used

12. References Blaszka, M., Burch, L., Clavio, G. Walsh, P. & Frederick, E. (2012, December). #WorldSeries: An empirical examination of a Twitter hashtag during a major sporting event. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(4), 435-453.