Abstract
This dissertation investigates the diverse perceptions of social media among high-performance athletes and coaches, aiming to fill gaps in current literature concerning its impact on interpersonal dynamics within sports contexts. Drawing upon Goffman's (1959) Presentation of Self in Everyday Life and Sissela Bok’s (1978) Lying, the study aimed to understand coaches' and athletes' experiences of using social media. Semi-structured interviews with 10 high-performance athletes and 6 coaches were conducted, supplemented by content analysis of athletes' social media posts. Phenomenological analysis techniques were applied to discern meaningful themes, employing Imaginative Free Variation (IFV) to deepen the exploration of embodied experiences within the lifeworld existentials of Body, Space, Time, and Relation (bstr).
Findings indicate athletes' awareness of social media's visibility and its challenges in information regulation and usage. The analysis of athletes' social media posts suggests a perceived insider meaning not easily grasped by external viewers. Moreover, the study highlights concerns about the potential erosion of the coach-athlete relationship due to decreased value placed on face-to-face interactions in physical settings.
This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of how social media influences athletes' mentalities and performances, offering insights into its implications for coach-athlete interactions in high-performance sports.
