Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze how professional athletes, most specifically LeBron James, have broken through the stereotypical athlete barrier in order to shed light and encourage justice for social activism issues such as educational opportunities for low-income youth and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Furthermore, this study focuses on the ability these athletes have in our social media enhanced society, with the use of platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, to more easily participate and influence a broader audience. This study utilizes a cyber ethnographic qualitative content analysis to compare two subjects — Stephen Curry and LeBron James. To drive my analysis, I used two research questions regarding how athletes (specifically James) use their social media profiles to fight injustice within our society with strategies such as hashtag activism and language that serves as a “call to action” to followers and viewers.

Advisor

Razzante, Rob

Department

Communication Studies; Global Media and Digital Studies

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

Keywords

Black Lives Matter, hashtag activism, LeBron James, athletes

Publication Date

2021

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2021 Chloe Lynn Burdette