Self-presentation of Iranian football players on Instagram during the 2018 World Cup

Abstract

Members of social network sites are able to decide how to present themselves to other members. An earlier study has suggested that athletes may put up posts to describe themselves in their various roles. The aim of this study is to gain further insight by extending from the earlier conceptual framework. The posts of 14 Iranian footballer who played in the Russia 2018 World Cup from April to August were analysed. Content analysis found that the posts could be classified into four different categories namely Athlete, Family, Personal and Publicity. In addition, it was found that over time, there were changes in the proportion of posts in each category. Athletes were more likely to post on their lives as an athlete before and after a major sports event. This suggests that athletes are managing their personal brand on social media.