Face-ism in Sport Communication: Examining Professional Athletes’ Twitter Profile Photographs

Authors

Ju Young Lee, Indiana University Kokomo
Paul M. Pedersen, Indiana University Bloomington

Abstract

Athletes who engage in social media have an opportunity to present their respective images in numerous ways. One strategy is through the use of profile photographs, an option that is provided by various social networking sites. Social media profile photographs are important in an online self-presentation context, and, as such, users attempt to construct positive self-images through such source publicity opportunities. This study analyzed the face-ism phenomenon of the Twitter profile photographs of professional athletes from the WNBA, NBA, LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, WTA, and ATP. The results revealed no differences in the facial prominence displayed between female and male athletes across the three sports. Furthermore, those athletes who attracted more followers and had more influential Twitter accounts depicted themselves with greater facial prominence. The results also revealed that greater facial prominence tended to be identified in Twitter profile photos that were taken from sport-related locations, shown in action style shots, and presented with a fewer number of brand logos.

Recommended Citation

Lee, Ju Young and Pedersen, Paul M. (2019) "Face-ism in Sport Communication: Examining Professional Athletes’ Twitter Profile Photographs," Global Sport Business Journal: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/gsbj/vol7/iss1/1