Analysis of social networking sites used by student spectators in university sport

Abstract

Social media usage has caused a notable shift in the use of strategies and relevant tools with which to communicate with sport spectators, catapulting sports into one of the most read topics on social media. This rapid growth of social media in sport has stimulated research in this field of study, delineating the different parts of social media, including social networking sites, and creating opportunities for university sport departments to foster relationships between university sport and student spectators. The purpose of this study was to identify the social networking sites used by student spectators in university sport. Based on a cross-sectional research design, a modified survey was distributed electronically to a randomly selected sample of 540 full-time registered students at the University of the Western Cape. The findings indicated that WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram were the most popular social networking sites used by student spectators in university sport. This study concluded that the three social networking sites were the most preferred among student spectators. Therefore, this research provides higher education institutions the opportunity to leverage off the students’ usage of social networking sites for marketing purposes. The study recommends the need for social media-based marketing strategies by university sports departments to be targeted at social networking sites visited by student spectators.

Keywords: Social networking sites, student spectators, university sport.