'I shared the joy': sport-related social support and communality on Instagram.
The popularity of sharing photographs on digital platforms has increased significantly due to the communicative affordances of mobile media and the emergence of photo-sharing applications, such as Instagram. In this paper, we examine how social support and communality can be built and reinforced thr...
| Published in: | Visual Studies Vol. 35; no. 2/3; pp. 260 - 273 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Sep2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=146011261&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 146011261 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 1472586X J6I jtl: Visual Studies issn: 1472586X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2020 vid: 35 iid: 2/3 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 146011261 10.1080/1472586X.2020.1790304 ppf: 260 ppct: 13 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 146011261 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 146011261 tig: atl: 'I shared the joy': sport-related social support and communality on Instagram. aug: au: Ehrlén, Veera Villi, Mikko su: Instagram (Web resource) Visual communication Social practice (Art) Photographs Physical activity sug: subj: Visual communication Social practice (Art) Photographs Physical activity Instagram (Web resource) ab: The popularity of sharing photographs on digital platforms has increased significantly due to the communicative affordances of mobile media and the emergence of photo-sharing applications, such as Instagram. In this paper, we examine how social support and communality can be built and reinforced through digital visual communication. We focus especially on photo sharing in the context of recreational climbing and trail running. In a qualitative study with Finnish climbers and runners, we asked what meanings sports practitioners ascribe to the practice of sharing and observed how they communicate these meanings through photographs. The results indicate that different types of visual content build and reinforce communality in distinct ways. Whereas inspirational photographs drive practitioners to explore, motivational photographs pull practitioners to keep going through goal setting and peer support. We conclude that visual communication on Instagram mediates a stream of momentary encounters between practitioners that merge into communally meaningful experiences. Thus, we assert that in the context of recreational sport subcultures, photo sharing not only facilitates social relationships but can be perceived as a meaningful social practice that is integral to reinforcing physical activity. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|