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Postgraduate Dissertation Cover Sheet
The following form should be completed, and attached as the cover of each copy of your dissertationsubmitted. Two hard copies of the dissertation must be submitted to the Department of Managementoffice by 6pm on the due day; please note that neither of these copies can be returned. You must alsosubmit your dissertation to Moodle, if you encounter any problems you may send this as an email
attachment to the following email address: [email protected] the deadline.Student NamePeter Jette Student ID
12903158
ProgrammeMSc Sport Managementand the Business of Football
Supervisor Richard Tacon
Title ofDissertation
Strangers On A Plane? An ECommunity
amination Of Social Capital In An Online Fan
Word count18,571
Presentation of dissertation please refer to section 4 in the Postgraduate HandbookPlagiarism - please read the statement overleaf on plagiarism, and sign the declaration below.You are reminded that all work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination of theUniversity of London must be expressed in your own words and incorporate your own ideas and
judgements.Plagiarism that is, the presentation of another persons thoughts or words as though they were yourown must be avoided, with particular care in coursework and essays and reports written in your owntime.Direct quotations from the published or unpublished work of others must always be clearly identified assuch by being placed inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source must be provided in the
proper form.Remember that a series of short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such,constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single unacknowledged long quotation from a singlesource. Equally, if you summarise another persons ideas or judgements, you must refer to that person inyour text, and include the work referred to in your bibliography.Recourse to the services of ghost-writing agencies (for example in the preparation of essays or reports)or of outside word-processing agencies which offer correction / improvement of English is strictlyforbidden, and students who make use of the services of such agencies render themselves liable for anacademic penalty.Penalties for plagiarismDisciplinary proceedings will be initiated wherever there is evidence that plagiarism has been committed.Where plagiarism is confirmed, candidates will fail on the work concerned and may be liable for furtherdisciplinary action, including permanent exclusion from study not only at Birkbeck, but also everywhereelse in the University of London.More informationFor more information on plagiarism, please refer to section 3 of the postgraduate handbook. You can
also find information online at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/reg/regs/plagiarism
I confirm that I have read and understood the advice given with regard to plagiarism in assessedwork. I agree to abide by these rules and I agree that the JISC plagiarism service can be used todetect plagiarism. I accept that I may be penalised if I fail to abide by them.
Signed: Peter Jette Date: September 30, 2013 For Office Use Only
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Strangers On A Plane? An Examination Of
Social Capital In An Online Fan Community
Peter JetteStudent ID 12903158MSc Sport Management and the Business of FootballSeptember 30, 2013
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Abstract
While sport participation has often been seen as having various benefits to those
involved does sport fandom have similar implications? Specifically do the online
communities that have arisen from these fandoms have similar benefits for their
participants? This will be studied in the form of social capital, is social capital created
and does social capital exist within these online fan communities? This research uses a
combination of quantitative and qualitative (primarily qualitative) methods to determine
not only if social capital is created in these communities but also to attempt to describe
and understand these communities and the networks present within them. This
research finds that social capital can be created and does exist in an online community
however its affects may only apply to a small portion of the community. Most interesting
is the impact of user behaviour on the amount of social capital that is available to that
user.
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............................................................................................Background 5
.................................................................................Literature Review 10
.....................................................................................Social Capital Defintion 10
......................................................................Current Social Capital Research 17
...................................................................................................................Blogs 22
............................................................................Online/Offline Ethnogoraphy 24
.........................................................................................Methodology 29
................................................................................................Research Design 29
............................................................................................Research Question 30
........................................................................................Research Limitations 31
...................................................................................................Data Collection 32
.....................................................................................................Data Analysis 35
............................................................................Discussion/Analysis 37
...................................................................................Presentation of Findings 37
.........................................................................................Analysis of Findings 65
............................................................................................Conclusion 72
............................................................................................References 74
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Background
In other words, the Internet was doing two things for Bruce - it allowed him to
separate from the exterior life he hated, but also allowed him to stay engaged
with an interior life he wanted. It was, ultimately the single most important aspect
of who he was: It removed his present tense unhappiness while facilitating the
possibility for future joy. It made the dark part of his mind smaller, but it made the
optimistic part limitless. It added when needed to affix and subtracted what he
hoped to destroy. And maybe this was bad for Bruces humanity, but I think it was
probably good. I think it took a mostly sad man and made him mostly happy. The
degree of authenticity doesnt matter.
Right?1
Chuck Klostermans The Visible Man is a work of fiction but the above quote
illustrates what is a new and emerging element of what it means to be alive, basically
unlimited access to information and people through the internet. Even in the relatively
short time that the internet has been accessible to large numbers of people it has
fundamentally changed the way we live our lives and especially how we interact with
each other.
What has previously been considered a virtual or online reality is an idea that has
to be questioned, is something virtual if it affects ones life? As the line between the
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real world and the virtual world become blurred it is important to understand the
nature of the virtual world and its effects on its participants.
Participation in sport has long been seen as a positive influence on the lives of its
participants. The benefits for ones health, fitness, and physical wellbeing are obvious.
However, there are additional benefits that participation in sport can provide that go
beyond these known effects. These benefits extend in to more ephemeral areas such as
increased self-esteem, development of new skills, and a heightened sense of purpose.
These individual benefits can then be translated into benefits on a societal level and it is
these effects that are used by policy makers and those involved in sport to champion
sport related initiatives. Consider this excerpt from a report on the planned legacy for
the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London that was published by the
Department for Culture, Media, and Sport,
The 2012 Games provide a great opportunity to promote community engagement
and bring people together over a national event, helping to empower and
embolden communities to achieve what they want to do in their area. More
cohesive and proactive communities would be a genuine legacy from London
2012, which would last for generations and would support the creation of the Big
Society. We want to ensure that the Games leave a lasting legacy as the most
equality-friendly ever2
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These larger societal benefits and the mechanisms that allow them to manifest
themselves and be transmitted between individuals and groups can be understood to be
a part of a concept known as social capital.
A more in-depth examination of the various definitions of social capital will be
found later in this paper however in a very brief and rough sense social capital is the
capital that is created through social interactions between individuals. In this definition
the use of capital is analogous to the use of capital in the term economic capital, as
capital is something that is acquired and can be used or spent by whomever possesses
it. To put social capital in to the context of sport, observe this passage from a Canadian
Sport Policy report published by the Heritage Ministry in 2002 which demonstrates an
example of the application and usage of social capital with regards to sport and sport
policy,
Establishing sport clubs and organizing events are great training grounds for
social action. Social capital is built by learning to organize meetings, negotiate for
the use of shared facilities, and deal with expectations, triumphs, and failures 3
In both of these examples of social capital being created through sport the focus
is on participation in sport, either playing a sport or involvement in the organization of a
sport. These ignore what is arguably the most common involvement in sport for most
people and that is the following and spectating of sport. In their work on sport
development Houlihan and White quote Putnam, In football as in politics, watching a
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team play is not the same thing as playing on a team4. In Putnams opinion this passive
relationship with sport is not an interaction capable of creating social capital.
However is Putnams view on following sport correct? And specifically is this view
correct within the context of the emergence of the internet and the online communities
that have been created as a result of the instant and global communication that it
provides. Are the activities of supporting a team or engaging with other fan activities
incapable of creating social capital? This dissertation will attempt to answer this
question using a casestudy approach and examining one of these online football fan
communities and its participants. Is social capital created for its members?
Online social capital research is like the internet itself, a relatively new
phenomenon and research in to social capital online is ongoing. For example studies
have been conducted regarding the social capital implications of the use of Facebook
by university students5 or the use of the social networking site MySpace6.
Of Headbands and Heartbreak is a blog devoted to Real Madrid and football in
general created in December of 2010. Unlike many football blogs the sites content
avoids many of the traditional topics of on-field play, transfers, tactics, or team selection.
The blogs focus is very much on everything else related to football. The closest analogy
may be to a site devoted to entertainment and pop culture coverage as opposed to
sport. Of Headbands and Heartbreaks Manifesto states,
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This is the place for silliness, naughtiness, loving man love, the intense academic
study of DLD and its permutations, gossip, pictures, gifs, fic and whatever
nonsense our highly inventive and disturbing brains can come up with. Hala
Madrid!7
Since their founding the creators have fostered a growing readership. They have
created a strong and active community fueled by both the creators and reader
participation. Their About page lays out some guidelines for commenters stressing
politeness and civility as well as a prohibition on any intolerant comments. Again this
speaks to the creators desire to create an open and welcoming community8. It is this fan
created and operated website, along with its users that will for the unit of analysis for
this research.
This paper will examine the community of readers that currently exists at Of
Headbands and Heartbreak to determine if social capital can be created in an online
community based on sports fandom as opposed to a more traditional observation of
social capital thats related to sport participation. While obviously a more detailed
presentation of the data and findings will follow it is reasonable to say that social capital
can be created and does exist in an online community and this research will discuss this
process as well as what amount of social capital exists.
The following section will examine the literature relevant to this paper and its subject
matter.
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Literature Review
This literature review will be composed of three sections. The first will be an
examination of the concept of social capital as discussed by scholars. As mentioned
previously, social capital is a fluid term with different and wide-ranging definitions that
can be applicable to a variety of situations. Following this exploration of the definition of
social capital there will be a discussion of the research regarding social capital in online
spaces and how it manifests itself in these virtual communities. An examination of the
research on blogs and blogging communities will then establish context for this specific
community being studied. Finally, there will be a brief discussion of online ethnography
and the results of this research.
With a firm understanding of the academic literature related to these concepts
and fields of study, a precise definition of social capital that can be applied specifically to
this research will be created. This will be supported by knowledge of the current
research in the field of social capital as well as an understanding of the more general
research in to online communities with a focus on ethnography.
Social Capital Defintion
When conducting research in to social capital its essential that a clear definition
of social capital be established. It seems obvious to state but without such an
understanding one cannot measure social capital and considering the relatively
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amorphous definition of the term any definition that is too ambiguous will lead to invalid
conclusions. Wendy Stone highlights the importance of a firm understanding of the
concept of social capital and the theory behind it. In her work she also states that a
clear definition is a must for any social capital research9 and outlines key requirements
for successful social capital research. In addition to the importance of a clear definition
she specifically mentions the need be aware that what could be termed the symptoms
of social capital do not necessarily mean that social capital itself is being created. While
these latter concerns apply more to the analysis and discussion of the data, the creation
of a definition begins with the literature. However it is important to remember that as
Adler and Kwon state there is no theory that can incorporate all the existing theories
regarding social capital and transcend their limitations so a a narrow definition that
applies to this research is essential10.
Alejandro Portes work provides a good entry point to the concept of social capital
with his review of the origin of the term social capital and its current uses. He traces the
term to Pierre Bourdieu who saw social capital as the relationships that allow people
access to economic capital. Portes continues on to Loury who felt that economic theory
ignored the importance of social connections and relationships with what could be
termed social capital filling this gap. He then discusses Coleman who defined social
capital as the social structures that allow people to create and access human capital11.
Summarizing these findings Portes describes social capital,
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To possess social capital, a person must be related to others, and it is those
others, not himself, who are the actual source of his or her advantage. As
mentioned before, the motivation of others to make resources available on
concessionary terms is not uniform12
Following his discussion of both the positive and negative aspects of social
capital Portes concludes that while social capital cannot fix the larger societal problems
that it has been applied to, it can have an effect on the individual. However, he makes it
clear that social capital has both positive and negative effects to these individuals13
.
When constructing a definition this cannot be ignored and social capital cannot be
viewed exclusively as creating positive outcomes.
In his work Bowling Alone, which examines the decline of social capital in the
United States during the 20th century, Robert D. Putnam attempts to define social
capital in a relatively general sense. He begins with a comparison between social
capital and other forms of capital such as physical capital and human capital. He
explains that social capital refers to connections among individuals-social networks and
the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them14. Putnam also
discusses the development of the term itself and finds there to have been six separate
inventions of the term, again suggesting that this is clearly a complex and wide-ranging
subject. Putnam further defines social capital describing it as having both individual and
group elements and the importance of connections between both individuals and groups
as being essential to strong social capital. He states, Social capital can thus be
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Adler and Kwon18 have worked to create a definition of social capital through a
thorough examination of many of the previous definitions. The results of their work
focuses on the idea of goodwill. They maintain that Social capital is the goodwill
available to individuals or groups. Its source lies in the structure and content of the
actors social relations. Its effects flow from the information, influence, and solidarity it
makes available to the actor19. Their approach is more cognitive than structural and
understanding the goodwill that is available to community members will also help
understand the reciprocity present in the community and how community members
exchange goodwill between each other.
As Putnam discusses, the networks that allow social capital to be created and
used are crucial20. Krishna and Schrader provide interesting insights on conducting
social capital research with specific reference to networks. They assert that a
researcher must understand the networks that the subject group has created and the
types of networks present in that community. They also draw on the work of Putnam and
his distinction between the horizontal and vertical networks that are involved in the
creation of social capital. They stress the importance of having a clear definition of the
community itself which they believe is necessary to understand these networks. They
advocate the use of maps, diagrams, along with a description of the communitys
assets, services, and institutions21.
Continuing with the networks present in social capital, Cattells studied social
capital and its effects on health and well being in impoverished neighbourhoods. They
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examined both the communities and networks present in these neighbourhoods and
what constitutes social capital within this context22. This goal was combined with the
more general question of its effects on health. Participation in organizations by
individuals in these neighbourhoods and the social capital that arises out of those
interactions was compared to the benefits of employment. Crucial to building an
effective definition of social capital for the context established is the conclusion that
social capital can improve quality of life but cannot explain the relationship of poverty to
health. In a more general sense they saw the study of social capital as something that
helps identify the conditions that contribute to quality of life in a community but can not
find answers to the problems faced by that community23.
A similar, non-online social capital study was conducted by Falk and Kilpatrick.
They studied a rural Australian community. Their premise was that by understanding the
nature of the community and the interactions between the community members they
could see how social capital is created and the processes through which it is created.
They also aimed, like Cattell, to use their research to create a definition of social capital
and arrived at this,
Social capital is the product of social interactions with the potential to contribute
to the social, civic or economic well being of a community-of-common-purpose.
The interactions draw on knowledge and identity resources and simultaneously
use and build stores of social capital. The nature of the social capital depends on
various qualitative dimensions of the interactions in which it is produced, such as
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the quality of the internal-external interactions, the historicity, futuricity,
reciprocity, trust and the shared values and norms24
The expression community-of-common-purpose is an important and attractive
element for a definition of social capital, especially as it is a common purpose, or in this
case, common interest that unites members of many online communities. Traditional
offline geographic or demographic commonalities that can lead to community formation
are not necessarily present in an online forum.
In Wasko and Farajs work on the creation of social capital in an electronic
message board of a legal professional association their definition of social capital
focused on the relationships between the members of a community and the relationship
between member and community. They also described relational capital which is
important to facilitate actions for individuals within the structure25 and the components
of relational capital, commitment, trust, and reciprocity. A similar definition was offered
by Beehive, Steinfeld et al. They used surveys to asses the way employees were using
the site, their demographic information, and the implications of the site and its usage on
social capital. They defined social capital as the resources that derive from the
relationships among people in varying social contexts26
Marques takes an interesting approach to the specific concept of indirect
reciprocity . As he defines it, Indirect reciprocity means that those who give or bequest
something to a second figure receive a counter gift from a third party to whom they have
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given nothing27. He also highlights the idea that important to creating this indirect
reciprocity in a community are the social mediators in a community. He continues to
describe a community where this indirect reciprocity exists and the key to this
community is that its participants contribute to the community without a prompt from a
specific individual. Online communities fit this description as participants can easily
withdraw if they choose to and not fulfill what obligations they may perceive to exist to
other participants. However if an online community can create indirect reciprocity then
these specific obligations become less important28 and the community can sustain itself
and create social capital.
To build on this understanding of the concept of social capital the current
research in to social capital and specifically online research will now be examined.
Current Social Capital Research
To begin is a work not specifically related to an existing or specific social network but a
more encompassing and general quantitative analysis of the internet and social capital.
Wellman et al29 used the National Geographic Society Survery of 2000 as their
data set to study the behaviour of web users and the relationship between this
behaviour and social capital. Wellman et ald findings indicated that the internet can
both supplement and detract from a users social capital. Internet use itself is not
enough to create social capital. They state there are no single internet effects30, it is
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the users behaviour that is essential, to simply observe a online community is not to
observe social capital in action.
There are, of course, more in-depth examinations of social capital. The work of
Wasko and Faraj31 was discussed previously. They examined the online discussion
board of a legal professional association. In their analysis they applied social exchange
theory to the online forum and they found that social capital was created and more
specifically relational and cognitive capital was created. Their conclusion was that
people derive satisfaction from helping others in these forums because it positively
affects their reputation. They also concluded that the individuals who did help others did
not expect help in return, a form of the general or indirect reciprocity discussed by
Putnam or Marques3233.
While Thomsen et al. do not specifically use the term social capital they talk
about the social bonds formed in an online community. They discussed the criticism of
online communities in that they result in weaker connections, or bridging social capital,
as opposed to stronger connections or bonding social capital. However they highlighted
various studies where users had either formed a personal relationship with someone
online, had hosted online forum members offline for a meet-up, and a forum providing
job opportunities and social interaction34.
For more recent study into social networks and communities one can look to
studies such as Pfeil et al. regarding the social capital of MySpace users by age range.
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Their research lead to the finding that younger users possess higher levels of social
capital than older users. The conclusions as to why the level of social capital differs are
informative. They cite two factors as primarily responsible for these differences. One
concerns user behaviour, in that the younger users take advantage of more features of
the site, though they did not determine the reason older users utilize fewer features. The
second factor is related to the personal information shared by users. They found
younger users more willing to share their feelings and emotions as opposed to older
users who were more formal in their behaviour35.
Research regarding social capital and IBMs internal social networking site from
Steinfield et al. has found that internal corporate social networks do have some
relationship with social capital though they cannot state that a causal relationship exists.
Interesting was their finding that the benefits were most pronounced for those who are
younger, new to the company, or geographically far from the company, similar to the
results in the examination of MySpace. They recommend more extensive study that that
would look into a comparison between those who use social networking sites at work
and those who do not.36
Ellison et al. conducted research on the impact of Facebook usage on social
capital and self esteem in university students. They used statistical analysis from survey
data and determined that Facebook use is positively correlated to helping students
create and maintain social capital. They found that Facebook, and networks like it, are
most effective in creating and maintaining bridging social capital and have less impact
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on levels of bonding social capital. They do conclude though that it helps maintain
bonding social capital while not creating it for its users.37 This echoes the work of
Thomson discussed previously.
Hampton and Wellman researched how online interaction supports community
and social capital in an actual neighbourhood. While they found the internet and the
connections it makes possible have beneficial effects for social capital it is not
necessarily general internet use that will be a part of this benefit, but specifically skilled
internet usage. Again, as seen previously, the behaviour of users online has a
connection to the amount of social capital that is created for those users 38.
Fascinating work has been done by Steinkuehler and Williams. They looked at
participants in an online multiplayer game and the community that has arisen through
the gameplay and the interactions of the players. They draw on Oldenbergs concept of
third places and they frame their research as an attempt to prove these games
represent a virtual third place. Roughly, a third place is a place that is not an individuals
home or work, that serves a variety of purposes in those communities, such as a port of
entry for new arrivals to a community, a place to sort community members into like
minded groups and associations, and a place where friendships are established on a
neutral ground39.
They found these games to be the neutral ground that Oldenberg identifies in his
work, where the game is a leveler. This is where real world status is no longer
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important for participants, it becomes a meritocracy in a way that most participants do
not feel a part of in their day to day lives. This exists even to the extent that participants
are disciplined40 for attempting to exercise their real world power in this virtual forum.
Much like a traditional third place these games show the participants engaging in
conversation with fellow customers in a playful way much as one at a local bar. With
regards to social capital they find it to be primarily of the bridging type and not a bonding
type. They find this game to be a part of a retribalization through contemporary
media41. These online fan communities could very much form the new definition of a
third place.
Considering the literature regarding the definition of social capital and the current
research regarding social capital online, an appropriate definition of social capital can
be established for this research. The essential factors inherent in creating online social
capital are user behaviour, and reciprocity along with its associated trust and goodwill
that are present in a community-of-common-purpose 42. Also important to understand
is the type of social capita, is it bridging, bonding, or both? By understanding the
feelings of the communitys participants towards each other and the types of
interactions they have that involve either specific or general reciprocity, an
understanding can be gained as to the presence of social capital in this community, if
any. This can then be compared to the behaviour of the communitys readers and what
relationship exists between the two. This must be prefaced with an understanding of the
community being studied and the networks present in that community. Online
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ethnography has been an effective tool in accomplishing this previously and that
research and its results will also be reviewed.
To further understand the specific nature of this community, which is blog based,
a summary of relevant research regarding blogs and their communities will be
presented.
Blogs
Ducate and Lomicka studied the effects of blogging on students who were
enrolled in a foreign language class. They were asked to both follow a foreign language
blog and later and write their own blog in the language they were studying. Their
findings indicate that when choosing a blog to read, their students were attracted to the
subject matter covered by that blog and looked for shared interests and hobbies to
discuss. Students were also required to comment on their peers posts though they
found that the students did not particularly enjoy reading or writing these comments.
This was partially due to limitations imposed by the instructors on comment content.
While this papers research focuses on users who have chosen to read this blog without
any direction from an authority figure, its informative that content attracts readers, and
commenting freedom is essential. These two facts which must be kept in mind in the
examination of the behaviour of these community members 43.
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Wei discusses the norms associated with blogging in an association of blogs. Her
primary finding is that while one can attempt to establish norms and rules regarding the
actions of a blog or its participants it is the participants of the community itself who are
instrumental in defining the norms of the community44.
Research on the relationships formed through blogs, comments, and links has
been undertaken by Ali-Hasan and Adamic. While their research was based on network
analysis of a variety of blogs this initial research was followed by a more thorough look
at the relationships formed by bloggers through links or comments and if these
relationships extended to offline relationships. They did find that relationships were
created through the comments or links between blogs. While this study examines only
one blog, the comments section can be examined as an initial entry point for users and
user interaction45.
More specific study of the comments section of a blog is the research of Hu et al.
They studied the comments section of a blog using in-depth quantitative content
analysis of these posts. They aimed to determine if the comments affected the readers
perception of the original post and they found that it did46. Comments cannot be
separated from the original post, the thoughts and interactions of the participants of the
community shape users perceptions of the content. When examining this blog and its
community it is important to understand the norms associated with the community as
well as the importance of the comment section for relationship formation which is
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essential to creating trust between readers. Norms and trust are integral components of
reciprocity in social capital.
Online/Offline Ethnogoraphy
Noted social psychologist Gary Alan Fine has written extensively about the role
of leisure in peoples lives and the psychology behind the decisions people make when
it comes to deciding how to use their leisure time. While he was writing about traditional
offline organizations, the concepts apply to online communities as well, which have
become a space for leisure47. In his article Mobilizing Fun48 he describes the how of
leisure as opposed to the why49 and the way that voluntary associations retain and
attract members. This is a process he refers to as the provisioning of satisfaction of
fun50. He highlights, knowledgeability, sociability, and identity symbols as essential to a
successful volunteer based organization and the importance of particular activities that
create sociability. However, sociability is not friendship and all leisure worlds do remain
material worlds at their core that require specific resources, whether real or virtual.
Identity symbols are specifically important to an online community where the
participants level of anonymity allows them to use these symbols to create a persona,
ie. the use of a favourite footballers photo as an avatar on a social network.
In another study, Fine used an ethnographic approach, embedding himself within
five little league teams for three years to make his observations. He specified this as
microethnography51 and stressed the importance of seeing things within the context
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of its mode of transmission, when conducting this kind of research. He describes the
development and existence of any small group in a society, such as a Little League
baseball team, as an idioculture. In his words, An idioculture consists of a system of
knowledge, beliefs, behaviours, and customs, shared by members of an interacting
group to which members can refer and employ as the basis of further interaction52
Fines approach is attractive as it is based on a traditional discussion of sport
participation and its effects. As the goal of this current research is to understand online
sport community participation and its related effects, a similar ethnographic approach,
looking at an idiocultue (the blog) is appealing. Seeing the process of Mobilizing Fun
for this website will be essential to understanding the community and any social capital
that exists within it. Some discussion of ethnography and online ethnography will be
presented here and will be continued in the methodology.
In their work on ethnography, Hammersley and Atkinson trace the definition of
the term to the 19th century where ethnography referred to work describing a
community or culture that was usually foreign to the intended audience. The term
evolved to mean, in their words, an integration of both first-hand empirical investigation
and the theoretical and comparative interpretation of social organization and culture53.
Their further description of ethnography focused the process of ethnography and the
data collection methods. This is broken down in to five main features, the importance of
in the field research, the central use of observation and conversation with participants,
the unstructured data collection, a focus on small cases, and the limited role of
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statistical analysis or quantification. They view ethnography as an open ended and
exploratory process. They felt the task is to investigate some aspect of the lives of the
people who are being studied, and this includes finding out how these people view the
situations they face, how they regard one another, and also how they see themselves.
However this research will not be a traditional ethnography as the community
being studied is a blog based online community. The field of online ethnography is
growing and the research ongoing in this field as well as some examples of related
offline ethnography will be discussed.
Hine examines the history of online ethnography and social research within
internet communities beginning in the mid 1990s54. She discusses the debate between
active online participation when conducting research and lurking, where the
researcher does not participate or engage with the community but observes passively.
She acknowledges lurking as an attractive option but measures this against the
experience, knowledge, understanding and testing of research hypothesis and favours
active interaction with participants55.
A virtual ethnographic approach was used in Boschs research on Facebook and
its use at the University of Cape Town for teaching and learning. Her definition of virtual
ethnography is broader than others, as she explains it, merely draws on the basic
principles of ethnography. In her research she was able to describe the strengths and
limitations of Facebook for learning purposes by understanding the underlying networks
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and usage patterns of an online community56 . She found that while Facebook is an
attractive tool as it appeals to a younger generation, it may not be equipped for learning
purposes and her understanding of the network allows for her to cite examples of better
equipped networks57
Leander and McKims work on online ethnography raises some interesting
questions with regards to researchers approach to offline and online spaces, as they put
it, Re-spatializing the Internets Relation to the Real World. They propose seven
different ways offline and online activity and social spaces interpenetrate58
. In their
summary they discuss the needs of people in online communities and the researchers
observing them, to create the distinction between offline and online spaces and how do
those shape online and offline practices and identities59. These are questions that
must remain at the forefront of the research and it is important to avoid creating this kind
of binary distinction especially with regards to social capital, online and offline
interactions must be treated as interrelated activity.
In their work with online communities Agneli, Bowl, and Hawk, highlight issues of
moderator versus participant, online social cues and the role of authority figures 60. The
role of the sites creators/moderators must be considered in the research and how they
shape the community61.
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An ethnographic approach has been used to good effect by researchers both off
and online, further discussion of the specific methodological approaches will addressed
later.
With a definition of social capital established and an understanding of both the
research in to social capital and ongoing research in to blogs and blog communities
there is an excellent foundation for this research. This will be combined with an
approach based in online ethnography as it suits the aims and goals of describing a
community, the networks within it, and most importantly the members of the community.
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Methodology
Research Design
This paper will use an ethnographic approach which is based on a single case
study. The case was selected based on what Thomas refers to as a Local Knowledge
case,
a local knowledge caseand this will be relevant particularly for the practitioner
or student researcher. In ones own place of work, ones placement, or even
ones home, there will be intimate knowledge and ample opportunity for informed,
in-depth analysis62
Of Headbands & Heartbreak is a local knowledge case. I was personally found
by the blog after I was contacted by their creator about some Real Madrid T-shirts I had
designed asking permission if they could post the designs on their site. I obviously
agreed and had some correspondence with the creator of the site. When looking for an
appropriate case for this research, this site came to mind. After an initial observation of
the comments, the blog appeared to have the kind of active community that would be
appropriate for this research. I contacted her and she agreed to participate and assist in
finding survey and interview subjects. While not the traditional football blog or website it
is very much an online community where sport is the common thread bringing people
together.
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The work of Androutsopoulos looks at the advantages and drawbacks of an
online ethnography based on discourse analysis. While he is focused on research in
linguistics his findings on ethnography and online community study can be applied
across other areas of study. Importantly he describes how the effectiveness of a
combination of both objective and subjective data and the effectiveness of interviews
combined with the more systematic approach of discourse analysis can benefit an
online ethnography. In addition to this he emphasizes how an online ethnography does
not need to claim to be a full ethnography, which fits with the broad definition of what
constitutes an ethnography discussed previously. He then details how elements of
ethnography can be incorporated in to different types of academic study, an approach
that could benefit this research63.
Considering this current research, a combination of quantitative and qualitative
methods will be used. However with the definition of social capital being primarily
cognitive and based on more qualitative data, the bulk of the research will be based on
qualitative methods.
Research Question
What is the nature of this community and what are the networks present within it?
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Is social capital created through the interactions of football supporters in an online
community?
Research Limitations
There are limitations to this type of research that must be discussed, especially
within the context of online research.
One limitation that is discussed by Kraut et al. is the lack of a lab setting to verify
respondents information and the possibility that participants who are acting
anonymously are filling out the survey in a frivolous manner or even attempting to
sabotage the research with deliberately incorrect responses64. However as also
mentioned by Kraut et al. using IP addresses to identify unique respondents and a close
analysis of the responses can limit this risk65.
Furthermore, Hookway details his experience in using blogs as a source of data
for research and the concerns that one has regarding the authenticity of what is
published on a blog, and by extension the authenticity of those participating in online
research anonymously. He argues that by using anonymity with screen names and
created identities it can allow the writer to actually express more honest opinions and
thoughts though he also mentions that conversely, there is no way to know that
whatever is being presented is not in fact a total fabrication and not just honesty hidden
behind a pseudonym. He counters this by discussing the different yet still interesting
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implications of a fictional blog and, more importantly to this paper, that even in a
laboratory environment a researcher cannot ensure the truthfulness of the
participants66.
Another limitation specific to online research that has been highlighted is that it
excludes those without easy access to a computer67. It is possible there are community
members with limited computer access who would choose to be more involved with site
if they had the opportunity.
Data Collection
The research for this report took three forms. The first was a basic quantitative
content analysis of the activity on the site for a period of one month, March 2013. This
analysis tracked the number of posts on the site and the commenting activity associated
with these posts. Tabulations included the number of comments per post, the number of
unique commenters per posts as well as the number of comments that were replies/
responses to existing comments and the total number of unique commenters across the
month. This is very roughly based on Angeli et al. discussion of Henris68 content
analysis of online comments.
The second part of data collection were interviews coupled with a qualitative
online survey component which was an approach recommended by Beck. In her work
on an online Israeli support community they detail their approach which first involved
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online observation, followed by content analysis and then offline interviews with
participants in the community. As she states,
This article supports the use of qualitative methodology to conduct Internet
research based on the integration of data-gathering methods online and offline
as the key to achieving rich ethnographic material. There are reciprocal relations
and links that exist between the culture of the Internet and between the wider
processes taking place in the society69
Related to this approach was the decision to employ a survey. When conducting
initial discussions with one of the sites creators and moderators they suggested that
more feedback might be acquired with the addition of a survey. She had some
experience with this data collection method and online football surveys and felt that
some users would be more comfortable with a more passive and anonymous
experience. Paldam describes some common issues with social capital related
questionnaires. While his work is more focused on quantitative analyses of social capital
he believes these issues can be applied to qualitative research as well. The four areas
of concern are saliency, goodness, concreteness, and closed versus open questions.
More salient questions provide more robust but less comparable answers, goodness is
the tendency of respondents to want to be nice and good, and concreteness refers to
the fact that more robust answers arise from more concrete questions70. With this in
mind the questionnaire was based around relatively concrete but open ended questions.
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The survey was designed to both gain an understanding of the community and
its motivations and behaviours as well as to gather information related to the existence
of social capital in the community, specifically reader relationships, and reciprocity. As
the survey was suggested in lieu of interviews for those not comfortable with an
interview or those wishing to preserve anonymity, no demographic information was
requested71 and the questions that were asked were open ended in an attempt to best
replicate the semi-structured interviews. As noted by Gray, open-ended questions allow
for much more detailed and revealing answers compared to closed questions72.
Additionally there was an opportunity for respondents to leave an email address for
follow up questions. This is another advantage of the open question format that is
described by Gray.
Interviews were semi-structured. Gray highlights how semi-structured interviews
are ideal for this kind of research as they allow the interviewer to respond to the
answers of the interview subject and pursue new avenues of questioning that the
interviewer feels are important to the research and could be enlightening 73. Interviews
conducted via Skype voice chat, Skype instant messaging, and email. Voice interviews
were transcribed after their completion.
For both the survey and the interviews, the sample was a convenience sample
made up of volunteers. There are limitations with a volunteer sample, as stated by
Coombes, the respondents have chosen to participate in the survey and when
analyzing data this must be taken in to account74. This kind of convenience sampling is
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suitable in an instance such as this where Fink identifies that convenience samples are
useful if the surveyor is certain that the responses apply to the target population75. In a
case study such as this every respondent is a member of the community and therefore
the target population. All participants were informed of their rights with regards to
personal information and consent and had the option to withdraw from the study at any
time. All names that were obtained from interviewee have been replaced with
pseudonyms and pseudonyms were generated for the survey respondents who did not
provide any information.
Data Analysis
While the research does have a question at its core, the descriptive nature of this
research lends itself to using a grounded approach for analysis. With the qualitative
nature of the research and specifically the interviews, the grounded approach allows for
the meaning behind the statements of the participants to be examined76.
The responses have been presented in general categories that align with the
goals of the research. They progress from questions relating to the community and user
behaviour within the community to the more specific analysis of the responses and what
they indicate about the amount of social capital present within the community. The
discussion and analysis will now follow.
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Discussion/Analysis
Presentation of Findings
The initial discussion of the data will begin with a basic analysis of the posts on
the blog for a month as well as the corresponding data related to the comments in each
post. This was done to establish the level of activity in the comment section, which as
discussed77 is essential to the formation of relationships between readers in a
community such as this. The data was taken from the month of March 2013 during
which there were 114 unique posts on the site. Refer to this chart (Fig1) for further data
related to the posts.
Fig1
Unique users represent the number of individual readers who posted a comment
and replies refer to the number of comments which were in response to a comment that
was made by another reader. Over this one month period there were 128 different
0
3.25
6.50
9.75
13.00
Posts Per Day Unique Users Per Post
6.237.39
12.45
3.65
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unique readers who posted a comment. Nine posts had no comments while the highest
number of comments for a single post was 113.
Again, this is a very basic form of quantitative content analysis, however it does
show an active community with a range of participants who not only voice their thoughts
on the content but respond to the thoughts of others, the very basic form of reader
interaction and relationship building.
This analysis will continue with the qualitative discussion of the site, its
community, and its users. How long people have been reading the website, how they
arrived on the website and the reasons they have stayed on the website will be
discussed.
This chart (Fig2) displays a breakdown of how long the questionnaire
respondents had been on the site. Please note that all readers were not entirely specific
and values have been rounded to the nearest half year.
Fig2
0
4
8
11
15
6 Mths Or Less 1 Year 1.5 Years 2 Years 3 Years
5
13
2
11
6
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When asked how they arrived at the site there were a variety of responses
however they can be broken down roughly into two groups. The first group are those
who found the site through a search for specific subject matter that the site covers and
the second group are those who found the site through a referral from another site.
The first group is significantly larger with 32 out of 37 respondents finding the site
through organic methods. These specific topics were mentioned by readers as reasons
for reading the site; Football, Real Madrid, the Spanish National Football Team, the
2010 World Cup, Sergio Ramos, Mesut Ozil, Jose Mourinho, Guti, hot men, and hot
guys. However this alone does not indicate why readers stayed on the site as their are
numerous websites devoted to these topics As discussed previously, the shortest period
of time for a reader on the blog was six months. For those who were referred to the site
from elsewhere, the source was the blog Kickette, which stopped regular posting in
December of 201278.
The respondents answers provided further detail as to why they remained
reading the blog. Not all respondents specified why they continued to read the blog but
for those who did there were two general answers. The first regards the tone and
content of the blog which was praised by the respondents for being fun, entertaining,
light, and positive. Two readers specifically said the blog was a welcome contrast
from other Real Madrid sites that were more news focused. For these two readers the
different tone and approach of the blog compared to a more serious site (one reader
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mentioned ESPN as an example) was an important part of why they remained on the
blog and this is consistent with the other less specific comments that reference the tone
and attitude of the blog.
Additionally, there were three respondents who read the blog because of their
desire to read find a more female-centric approach. Their responses to the question
were as follows, Lara, Was searching for blogs about Real Madrid written by women,
Sydney, Huge fan of Real Madrid , place where I can discuss the team and as a
female, discuss it with other ladies who appreciate the tea and the sport, Megan, Its
one of the few communities for female Real Madrid/football fans to enjoy without
misogyny/sexism. The blog was created by women and the blogs manifesto promotes
a welcoming and tolerant environment so these respondents comments are not
surprising. Misogyny remains a massive issue in sport and the discussion of sport.
Creating a safe space for women to express their views on sport has been successful in
attracting female readers to this blog.
From these responses it appears that the blog has been able to attract readers
and create a community, initially through generally organic means. Yet it seems that it is
the tone and personality of the site, its content and creators that have kept the
respondents reading, generally for over a period of one year.
When examining the responses of those interviewed, how they found the blog
and why they continue to read, the answers were very similar to those who completed
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the questionnaire. All of the interviewees have been reading the blog for at least one
year with two of them reading for two years. Much like the questionnaire respondents
they also found the blog through organic means and enjoyed it enough that they
continued to read. Their responses about why they had continued reading the blog
again focused on the tone, attitude, and different content of the blog compared to the
bigger, more traditional football websites. As reader Chrisitine said, They seemed to
like they same sort of things that I do, she continued,
I like that they talk about the guys and what theyre wearing and all the superficial
aspects of it, but at the same time, they do watch the games. They know what
theyre talking about
In a similar vein Desiree stated it was, Football news with a more female friendly
take. These answers continued and provided a more in-depth perspective of the initial
feelings readers had about the community, Andrea had this to say about her first
impressions, When you look at the people who were posting, it was thoughtful,
considered...It seemed like a conversation you would have with someone sitting next to
you, or a friend. Jane also enjoyed the tone of the blog and the friendly attitude she
found within the community, which was a contrast from other sites she read. These
thoughts were echoed by the other interviewees who all appreciated what they found to
be an active and positive community that retained their interest after their first visits.
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As seen from Desirees answer, that she enjoyed the female-centric tone of the
blog and as discussed in the responses from the questionnaire, the female oriented
nature of the blog is very attractive to certain readers. The interviews allowed for more
detailed discussion of this topic, for example, from the interview with Desiree who was
discussing a response she got from another reader when posting on another football
blog, Someone on Dirty Tackle, like literally once said, Get back in the kitchen. This
was echoed by Christine who generally described the negative comments from male
readers she received on other sites to be, Youre a girl you dont know what youre
talking about.
Desiree continued describing the female nature of community of the blog
A blog that specifically follows one football team primarily but will sometimes
bring in things from, news from other teams, and that it is meant to be a place for
women, primarily, but that its like welcoming to everybody its not like you cant
read this site if youre not a girl. But that definitely its run by two women and that
there is definitely there is, these players are really cute in addition to the fact that
we enjoy the game
Similarly Christine had more to say regarding why the blog appeals to her,
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I wouldnt mind if there were more guys, that would be ok too...but it is ok, I like
this blog because it is run by women...men will automatically not care or that you
dont understand the offside rule
In the interview with one of the blogs creators, Julie, she identified a lack of a
safe space for women to discuss football as one of the driving forces behind creating
the site, her experiences on other football sites were similar to the readers.
That's another thing that bothered us about other football sites. If you have a
vagina, apparently you must not know about the game and you must also think
with it at all times79
However she continued to explain that she was not only worried about sexism
from male users but also conflict between female readers,
Second, was the nastiness leveled at WAGs 80. The sheer amount of slut
shaming, calling women fat, ugly or whores just because they were dating
players makes me ill. Seeing women attacking other women depresses the shit
out of me. We have enough problems without tearing each other down. And I
hate young women getting into that mindset.
This female directed blog has adopted content that attracts the female fan. The
safe space the blogs creators have encouraged and nurtured is equally attractive.
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These examples here of outright sexism and misogyny have stuck with those who have
encountered them as one would expect them to. Creating a safe space is essential to
the creation of the trust that is such a key component of social capital.
The answers of the interviewees mirror those of the survey participants. The tone
and content of the blog were successful in maintaining their readership past the initial
visit. Of equal importance was the female friendly space where the members of the
community can feel safe to express their opinions without the fear of a sexist comment
in response.
As demonstrated, the role of the blogs creators and their position as moderators
in the community has been instrumental in the sites success. This was something that
was discussed by survey respondents and interviewees. While it was not directly
addressed in the questionnaire, some readers felt the need to mention the moderators
role without prompting. These responses from the survey lead to additional questions
regarding the moderator/creator role to be included in the interviews. For those who
mentioned it all of them agreed that creator/moderator role in the community helped
create the positive feelings that they associated with community. In her interview Irina
described them as being brilliant in what they do and then had this to say about their
work on the site when asked directly about them,
Well, they're funny, kind, they stand to what they write. I like it when people can
express their opinions. They built this blog from nothing, they look at all aspects
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of Real Madrid really, they can be serious when needed and funny the rest of the
time, they really can involve the readers in their posts, they're "close" to them. not
like we're posting this and done. that relates back to community as well.
Carol had this to say,
Because of the leading girls approach. You can feel by reading the post they are
intelligent, smart, funny, and firs (sic) and foremost totally dedicated to their side.
They are hard workers and attract other individuals of the same profile. Ladies
are consistent never lose the point, they know exactly what theyre talking about
Other respondents reiterated these thoughts, especially praising the work of the
creators in maintaining a friendly atmosphere in the comments and moderating the
discussion. In her interview Andrea identified the personalities of the creators as being
instrumental to its success and Jane compared them to mothers keeping the house in
order. She also singled out one of the creators defending community members during
disagreements and maintaining fairness. When asked about the role of the creators
Desiree highlighted the existing friendship between the creators as creating the friendly
tone that she appreciates,
And I definitely think that there is a sense that like, people who are friends started
this blog because they love football and specifically love Madrid, and I think when
you have people who are already friends put that out there, it just sort of lends it
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this air of being, like a nice chatty place, and not just like, a random website or
message board that people might go on and its kind of faceless
As was discussed by8182 the role of a moderator in an online environment is
crucial. Not only do they curate content, they establish a tone, and in the case of this
blog, a safe space, that readers find very appealing.
The second portion of the survey asked respondents to describe the level of
participation in the sites community and whether or not their participation had changed
since they began reading the site. To determine if readers were participating, they were
asked if they posted in the sites comments, which are a feature of every post. This is
the base level of active participation, no personal information must be surrendered to
comment and any comment can be posted within the commenting rules established by
the sites creators. This forum for reader communication is essential to the community
and the creation of any social capital.
The first question asked if readers posted in the comments and if so, how often.
Of the 36 readers surveyed, 30 of them have posted in the comments. Of this 30, two of
them no longer post in the comments and four are very infrequent posters. This leaves
24 of the 36 readers who post on a regular basis. As seen in the examination of the
sites content and comments, this still represents only a part of one months unique
commenters.
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Of the commenters, when asked if their participation level had changed since
joining the site the overwhelming response was yes. The only readers who said it had
not, were those who do not comment at all and two readers were began participating in
the comments immediately. The remaining respondents all indicated a change in their
participation. For most of these readers it was an increase in participation, in a follow-up
email to Vanessa, they had this to say about their increase in commenting
At first I did not participate because it seemed like everyone kind of knew each
other and I was new to the blog. But then I realized that a lot of these people
have never met or solely know each other because of the blog, which gave me
confidence in voicing my opinion. It also helped that the blog writers seemed very
welcoming and friendly in their posts as well as their follow up comments
This sentiment was echoed by other readers who felt that after reading the blog
and not participating, (lurking was the word used by some readers), that their
confidence had increased and they felt more comfortable posting their thoughts. Also
mentioned by two readers was the yearly La Liga fantasy football competition (which
currently features 52 participants83) as a catalyst for increased participation in the site.
Three respondents said that their level of participation had decreased. One
stated that they felt their comments were only repeating what others had said but they
still enjoyed reading the comments of others, another gave no specific reason for their
decrease in participation and as Alexa states, it seems theres a lot more aggression
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and conflict as their reason for a decrease in participation, though they still read the
posts.
Participation levels in the site were also discussed with the interviewees. In her
interview Andrea who described herself as an introvert, said that it took her two to
three months before she felt comfortable and began to comment. She highlighted what
she believes to be a more adult community and how it eliminates the emotional
immaturity that comes with being a fan as a contributing factor to her participation in
the comments. This was echoed by Christina, its nice having it be mostly adults too.
Jane also began commenting quickly, in her words, I jumped right in. Lisa had
similar thoughts as Andrea though she began commenting relatively quickly, within two
weeks of first reading the site she started to participate in the comments. As with
Andrea, her reluctance to comment immediately was tied to her general behaviour, I
listen before I talk in large groups, so it figures that I'd read before I'd write on a
website.
Christine and Desiree had very similar experiences when it comes to
participation in the comments and the community as a whole, both of them did not
comment initially but do so now. Desiress describes herself as a more active participant
who comments, a lot, she is active reading other comments and will respond to
comments that she finds interesting or is in response to one of her original comments.
Christine limits her comments to what she described as the bigger topics.
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knowledge, they did mention how reading the interactions and conversations in the
comments section had lead them to know that the readers were adults and specifically
they both mentioned how they had learned that many readers were grad students.
The responses of the readers regarding comments and participation on the blog
demonstrate again that by creating a positive and welcoming environment described by
readers in the discussion of their reading habits and motivations, you can develop a
comfort level that will lead them to active participation in the community. While not all of
those questioned do comment and some have decreased their level of participation, to
see the majority of the respondents increase their participation is a positive sign towards
creating goodwill. This was especially clear in the interviews where all interviewees who
were active participants in the site found they were getting to know other readers
through what they read and the conversations found in the comments section.
Without reader interaction there is no way social capital can be created and
posting a comment and feeling comfortable doing so is the first step towards these
interactions. It is the first chance for readers to gain any knowledge about the other
readers, limited as such knowledge may be. In the following section these more in depth
interactions will be examined.
Readers and interviewees were asked if they had ever been in contact with
another reader outside of the site either online and offline, how would they describe
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their relationship with other readers, and about the methods of communication they had
used to interact with other readers.
For the original question regarding interaction with other readers outside the site,
eight of the 36 questionnaire respondents said they had been in contact with readers
outside of the site and of those eight, three readers said they had met other readers in
person. Twitter and email were the main methods of interaction between readers
outside of the site. For those who had met offline, they met at the Real Madrid matches
in the United States. Of the seven interviewees, all of them indicated that they had been
in contact with other readers outside of the site, and two of had met another reader
offline.
The question asking readers to describe their relationship with other readers was
characterized by generally very positive responses. For those who had not been in
contact with other readers, many indicated that they had no relationship at all with
another reader. However of this group there were also a number of readers, 15 of the
26, who even without direct contact with each other felt there was a relationship to be
described. The most common description from these readers was, friendly, along with
words such as, cordial, good, jovial, and informal. Two readers did mention that
there had been heated interaction and debate in the comments but that overall their
feelings were positive.
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Interesting were some of the longer responses, from Kelly, I feel like were
friends, yet Ive exchanged virtually nothing with them. We all love Madrid and the boys
associated with them. Of, and we love futbol!, from Melanie, They act like family.
Football bonds people together., and Allison, Group of friends with the same hobby.
While these feelings regarding other readers are just that, feelings, and they do not
meet the definition of social capital it does show people who feel positively about a
community and with the right facilitation, these passive readers could become more
active and begin to interact with other readers.
When examining the responses of those who had interacted with other readers
the responses were also very positive. Again things were characterized as friendly,
cordial, and fun. Interestingly two more specific answers from readers who had met
other readers in person had very different tones. From Alexa,
I feel like the people who have been commenting for a long time are friends of a
sort. I enjoy their company online and look forward to the times I get to meet
them in real life. The people Ive met are so different from me in so many ways,
but theyre awesome to talk to
However, Victoria had a different perspective,
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i dont have a relationship with any of them. i recognise (sic) names, i remember
a few details about the people behind those names, but i dont live near any of
them and because i dont post on the site any more, there is no relationship at all
Obviously reader interaction and site participation is not sufficient enough to
meet the definition of social capital but as can be seen from the thoughts and feelings of
the readers, a feeling of community persists. The readers feel positively about other
readers even without any interaction. This positivity can be useful in creating social
capital among readers as interaction is more likely when goodwill and trust exists.
The interviews allowed for a more in-depth examination of the relationships
between the readers and how they felt about each other. All of the interviewees
described their feelings about the other readers as generally positive. Andrea described
the blog and its community as a team and she continued further, describing her
thoughts about the other readers,
Diverse, welcoming, sense of humour, I think those are maybe the best three...its
just fun...its fun to read comments from people who post all the time...its fun to
read comments from new people. It seems to have a great deal of diversity
behind it
She does not communicate with any other readers outside of the site except for
one of the blogs creators and those interactions were through Twitter. She highlighted
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the use of screen names as a hindrance to interaction as the anonymity they provided
made it difficult to contact other readers, or as she said, you dont want to track
somebody down, thats creepy.
Irina characterized her relationship differently. As opposed to Andreas feeling the
blog was a team, Irina focused more on the specific, more personal relationships she
had formed with readers from the site. She mentioned readers that she had met through
the site by name and explained that she now communicated with them through Twitter
and email. Even with her more personal approach she still had good feelings about the
community as a whole, while at HB&HB you've those people you just know because
they're always around, and all the insider jokes. She contrasted this with another Real
Madrid blog where she found its more formal tone made it difficult to create the type of
community shes found on HB and HB.
When she was asked to describe her relationship with the other readers, Lisa
had an interesting response,
To me, chatting on a website is like chatting with people on an airplane- striking
up a conversation with a bunch of strangers to have some fun. Sometimes
they're deep conversations, sometimes they're small talk... I'd say my relationship
with the other readers is generally friendly. I'm not super close to anyone on the
site, but I like to talk to most everyone
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In a similar vein, Jane compared her relationship to that of colleagues in a
workplace, placed together through a common circumstance though not necessarily
with the depth of friendship that one finds through more natural means.
Christina and Desiree had very similar thoughts. They both found the readers to
be friendly, and both felt that the common interest in Real Madrid and the specific way
this manifests on HB and HB defined their relationships with the other readers. Desiree
felt that this was partially a result of what she described as the self-selected nature of
the community and the fact that people want to be here. As she described when
discussing another football blog, people get so angry that someone is talking, like,
about something that you dont like, that you have to come and like comment.
Any negative feelings about the readers and the community expressed by the
interviewees were related to disagreements in the comments section. In her discussion
of the community Irina talked about the rude people who had been a part of the
community. She felt that those rude participants did usually leave the blog and believed
their presence was more symptomatic of the internet as a whole, They're everywhere.
Desiree found things could get heated between readers in the comments section
though she believed this was due to specific content related to Real Madrid. Lisa
echoed these sentiments,
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I've chimed in about everything from "the great goalkeeper debate" to the
cuteness of Fernando Torres. So the level of seriousness varies, and the
potential for tempers to flare varies
These are relatively minor issues for these readers as they are established and
confident members of the community. However, these debates and arguments in the
comments section could discourage new readers from continuing to read the site or
making the choice to participate in the comments. As found in the definition of social
capital used for this research, social capital has both positive and negative effects
Overall these interviewees have positive feelings about the community and its
participants. They find the other readers to be friendly and they are interested in reading
their thoughts through the comments section. Desirees comment about the community
being self-selected is informative. Similarly, Irinas belief that the rude people leave
the blog seems to reinforce this idea. This again speaks to the general tone and attitude
of this website or any website. Readers do self-select and to create a healthy and
vibrant community a sites creators/moderators must make an effort to create an
environment where users do choose to be there.
The final series of questions on the questionnaire were designed to be the most
specific in determining the amount of social capital that has been created as a result of
the community and the interactions amongst the readers of this site. In the first of these
questions respondents were asked if they have ever helped another reader or been
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helped by another reader and in the second question respondents were asked about
any in-person meetings between readers. This had been partially covered previously
but this question asked for further detail regarding those meetings.
The first question cuts to the core of the concept of social capital, and specifically
reciprocity. Simply interacting and talking with other readers is not enough to qualify as
social capital, those relationships and friendships are important in the creation of social
capital but it is when the more transactional, exchange based interactions occur that
social capital is created.
Of the 37 responses, 24 of them reported that they had no interaction with
another reader where they helped someone or they were helped themselves. These
were readers who generally had very little to no interaction with other readers and
described their relationship with the others as non-existent or insignificant. It should be
noted that one respondent did answer that they had helped other readers and been
helped but they specified they had done this on another site. Robyn, Not yet!
expressing a willingness to participate in the future.
For the 13 respondents who did report that they had helped another reader or
been helped, there were a variety of ways in which these acts manifested themselves.
The size and nature of these interactions were generally smaller and less involved,
though some of them formed deeper connections with more involved commitments.
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The most basic of these interactions were focused on topics relating to the sites
content, Real Madrid/football. These minor acts included posting score updates for a
match for other readers, translating a Real Madrid related video that was not in English
for other readers, and one reader who said they found the posts helpful in finding other
stories and content both football related and not football related. The most serious and
involved of these actions relating to Real Madrid/football was from Sydney who needed
assistance purchasing tickets for a match. They used the comments section to solicit
advice