Analysis of user-generated comments posted during live matches of the Cricket World Cup 2015
| Pages | 1180-1194 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-01-2017-0015 |
| Date | 12 November 2018 |
| Published date | 12 November 2018 |
| Author | Snehasish Banerjee |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Analysis of user-generated
comments posted during
live matches of the Cricket
World Cup 2015
Snehasish Banerjee
The York Management School, University of York, York, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyze user-generated comments posted on social media while
live matches were being played during the Cricket World Cup 2015.
Design/methodology/approach –Data were collected from Yahoo! Cricket (YC), a website that allows
people to submit comments during live matches. The comments were qualitatively analyzed using the
grounded theory approach.
Findings –The key finding of this paper is that people like to consume live sporting events in an online
social setting rather than as isolated individuals. In addition, the use of the grounded theory approach helped
uncover several new findings related to people’s use of social media during live matches.
Research limitations/implications –Since this paper studied the case of the Cricket World Cup 2015 and
collected data from YC, caution is advocated in generalizing its findings.
Originality/value –Scholarly interest on the use of social media during live sporting events is growing.
Building on such works, this paper highlights how user-generated comments posted during the Cricket World
Cup 2015 –mostly by individuals within the Indian subcontinent –intersected with broader issues such as
culture, identity, politics and religion.
Keywords User-generated content, Social media, Qualitative analysis, Information sharing,
Sport communication
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Advances in information technology have revolutionized the production and consumption
of live sporting events. Traditionally, sports used to be broadcasted on television for passive
viewing. However, social media applications now allow people to express opinions freely on
the internet, and actively engage with netizens during live matches.
As information technology continues to take over the world, sporting events need to
become tech-friendly in reaching out to its increasingly tech-savvy fans. Such a
development will allow forging strong sporting fraternity-fan connections, which lie at the
heart of not only the development of sports but also the enhancement of fans’experience
(Bhogle, 2017). Recognizing this, scholars have been studying sports-related social media
use over the last decade (e.g. Kassing and Sanderson, 2010; McCarthy et al., 2014).
An emerging area of research focuses on user-generated comments posted by internet
users during live sporting events (Yu and Wang, 2015). This paper considers such
comments to offer a unique vantage point into real-time sentiment on the ground. Hence,
their analysis would extend the scholarly understanding of the use of information
technology among people during live sporting events. Moreover, it could offer insights to
sports marketers into ways to enhance the overall sport experience.
For these reasons, the purpose of this explorative-qualitative paper is to analyze
user-generated comments posted on Yahoo! Cricket (YC) (www.cricket.yahoo.com), while
live matches were being played during the Cricket World Cup 2015. Given the relatively
under-investigated nature of the research area coupled with the lack of a priori frameworks,
analysis of the comments was done using the grounded theory approach. Consistent with
Online Information Review
Vol. 42 No. 7, 2018
pp. 1180-1194
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-01-2017-0015
Received 18 January 2017
Revised 8 June 2017
12 April 2018
Accepted 15 May 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
1180
OIR
42,7
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