May 19, 2010 Meeting Notes
Research Question: What are the demographic, geographic and social characteristics of online AFL fandom and the implication of these for AFL clubs?
Tasks for June 2, 2010: Remember that not meeting next week: Next meeting is two weeks from the 19th. Work on Review of Literature. Think about Methodology. Create a semi-structured survey questions for interview. Update the About page on OzzieSport. Publish paper about the Melbourne Storm controversy on OzzieSport.
Ongoing tasks: Check the media pages from The Australian to see what they have to say about social media and online activities in Australia.
Keep a list of material I am reading related to sports and social media both online and off.
Paper notes and tasks: The order of writing should ideally be something as follows:
- Write half the review of literature.
- Write methodology.
- Write individual chapters about specific aspects of online activity or about specific sites. Publish individual chapters as unique chapters. Develop additional sources for the review of literature.
- Complete the review of literature.
Some of this is because a lot of the work being done is very in the moment and time sensitive. The best thing that may come out of this paper isn’t the results themselves but the establishing of a methodology that other academics and sports leagues, teams and organizations can use to further their own knowledge. In the case of the AFL, the results may also be useful in terms of setting measurable benchmarks, which they can use in the future.
Other conversations: Discussion about the Melbourne Storm and Canberra Raiders:
- Attempt to figure out what to do with my paper. Should it be published online? The paper is very time sensitive. Should a more formal outlet for publishing it be sought? Will be published on OzzieSport by the end of the week.
- What can other teams learn from the Melbourne Storm controversy? Better yet, how did other fanbases respond to the controversy? Given the behavior of Canberra Raiders fans described in the Canberra Times after the team played the Melbourne Storm, it seems probable that the controversy strengthened the team’s fan base: Fans felt the need to reaffirm their attachment to a team that is not connected to cheaters. Some evidence of this may be seen on Twitter, where the Raiders saw the next highest growth in percentage of new total followers.