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Towards typologies of virtual maltreatment: Sport, digital cultures and dark leisure.

Kavanagh, E. J., Jones, I. and Sheppard-Marks, L., 2016. Towards typologies of virtual maltreatment: Sport, digital cultures and dark leisure. Leisure Studies, 35 (6), 783-796.

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DOI: 10.1080/02614367.2016.1216581

Abstract

A changing technological context, specifically that of the growth of social media, is transforming aspects of leisure behaviour, especially in terms of negative interactions between followers of sport and athletes. There is a growing body of research into the maltreatment of adult athletes, exploring issues such as abusive acts or behaviours against the individual, including acts of physical and/or psychological violence to the person. Existing research however, focuses upon face-to-face behaviours, and to date the nature of abuse in online spaces has been overlooked. It is becoming ever more apparent that virtual environments create optimal climates for abuse to occur due to the ability for individuals to communicate in an instantaneous, uncontrolled and often anonymous manner in virtual worlds. Using a netnographic approach, an analysis of a popular social media platform (Twitter) was conducted to examine the types of abuse present in online environments. This paper presents a conceptual typology, identifying four broad types of abuse in this setting; physical, sexual, emotional and discriminatory; examples of each form are presented. Findings highlight how online environments can pose a significant risk to individual emotional and psychological safety.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1466-4496
Uncontrolled Keywords:Sport; Social Media; Digital Leisure; Maltreatment; Twitter; Bullying
Group:Bournemouth University Business School
ID Code:24388
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:20 Jul 2016 09:11
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 13:57

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