The Relational Reconnection Function of Social Network Sites

Relational reconnection is a prominent yet under-explored function of social network sites (SNS) that encompasses both the activation and subsequent maintenance of dormant social ties. The present investigation used two data collections (Study 1, six university samples; Study 2, national United States sample) to explore the characteristics of friends who reconnect using SNS, and attempt to predict whether reconnected relationships persisted beyond the initial reconnection. Results indicated that relational reconnection is extremely common, especially among same-sex friends and individuals who identify as heavy SNS users. Predicted outcome value emerged as the best predictor of persistence beyond initial reconnection, in addition to engaging in modality expansion, being female, and reactivating a relationship with greater perceived development pre-loss-of-contact

Fantasy sport and World Cup viewership

Wicker P, Watanabe NM, Yan G. Fantasy sport and World Cup viewership. In: Bowman ND, Sanderson J, Spinda JS, eds. Fantasy sports and the changing sports media industry: Media, Players, and Society. London: Lexington Books; 2016: 217-234

Fantasy sports across the pond

Watanabe NM, Yan G, Wicker P. Fantasy sports across the pond. In: Bowman ND, Sanderson J, Spinda JS, eds. Fantasy sports and the changing sports media industry: Media, Players, and Society. London: Lexington Books; 2016: 41-60

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat: Using the Social Media Listening Center to Examine Post-game Twitter Content in College Rivalry Games

This Creative Inquiry project studied post-game Twitter messages (i.e., Tweets ) in the aftermath of closely contested rivalry games in college football/basketball to learn more about how fans react to victories/defeats using social media. We aimed to determine whether or not these reactions would mirror the predictions from thedisposition theory of sports spectatorship (Zillmann, Bryant, & Sapolsky, 1989). According to this theory, enjoyment of sports will be maximized when an intensely liked team defeats an intensely disliked team. Conversely, when an intensely liked team loses to an intensely disliked team, negative enjoyment occurs. Using Radian6 software in the Social Media Listening Center, we were able to pinpoint the end of closely contested rivalry games and study tweets from fans of the victorious and losing teams. Tweets from each game were saved and coded into themes separately by each member of the CI team. Next, CI members along with their faculty advisor discussed the themes they felt emerged from the tweets overall and achieved consensus about each contest being studied, and then sought consensus for themes that emerged across games