Selfies are one of the most popular trends to emerge from the growing use of social

media. Selfies refer to the self-portraits one takes, usually with their smartphone or camera, in
order to post the picture on social media (Qiu, Lu, Yang, Qu, & Zhu, 2015. Selfies have helped to
create the era of the micro-celebrity, or ordinary people who become famous on social
networks solely for posting pictures (Marwick, 2015). Due to the popularity of selfies, athletes
could professionally benefit from taking and sharing them on social media. Taking and sharing
selfies could help the athletes build their brand and earn endorsements, connect with fans and
build a more authentic and personal relationship, and allow them to shape their own identity free
of the medias influence. Selfies popularity, widespread use and acceptance, and how personal
they are make them an effective tool for athletes to cultivate a more personal relationship with
fans through social media (Emmons & Mocarski, 2014; Geurin-Eagleman & Burch, 2015;
Garber, 2014).
Social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter make it easy for a person to
post and share their image. Selfies are most prominent on Instagram, which is solely a photo
sharing network, as opposed to Twitter and Facebook, where thoughts, links and other content is
shared in addition to photos. These social networks are the athletes direction channel of
communication to the fan, and selfies are one of their methods of communication. Social media,
and selfies as an extension of it, provide fans with unprecedented access to the lives of atheltes
and creates a connection to them, something that is not possible though traditional media (i.e.
beat reporters, interviews) (Hambrick & Mahoney, 2011). Selfies are popular because they are
intimate photographs shared by oneself that invite people to see the poster as they see themselves
(Coombs & Collister, 2015).

The intimacy of selfies is what makes them as popular as they are, as people use social
media to connect to others and selfies help to make that connection feel personal (Coombs &
Collister, 2015). By posting selfies, athletes can make people like they are personaly connecting
to them because they are sharing their life, an event, or inviting them into their own world
through the selfie (Shipley, 2015; Emmons & Mocarski, 2014). Many athletes already use some
form of social media; likely either one or all of the three aforementioned networks. Its likely that
the account will be run by the athletes agent or publicist, who curate the content that is posted
on these profiles, but usually athletes will still have access to the account. Athletes can use their
accounts to interact with fans in many different ways, such as providing updates about their
everyday lives or a sport performance, conversing, providing insight about sport or even just
being a fan of sport (Lebel & Danylchuk, 2015).
Athletes in modern society are bigger than the celebrities that are followed; they are
heroes and legends (Kohe, 2014). Kohe (2014) argues that celebrities are famous for their role in
media, such as music or movies, but the following of athletes is greater than that, due to their
performances and how they are tied to a specific region, though their team or place of birth. This
is because most celebrities do not represent one country, region or city people have nothing
invested in or are as passionately tied to them as they are with athletes (Aruguetem, Griffith,
Edman, Green, & Mccutcheon, 2014). But with athletes, people are emotionally and sometimes
physically tied to their teams and take pride in that team (Kohe, 2014). Their unique fame brings
with it a heightened interest, almost an obsession even, and selfies could feed the insatiable
hunger for fans connection with their sporting heroes. There are many people that practically
worship athletes and teams; any content that they get about them or from them will be enjoyed
(Kohe, 2014). Selfies were found to be the most popular type of picture posted by athletes

(Geurin-Eagleman & Burch, 2015; Marwick, 2015). Fans would likely enjoy seeing the athlete
presenting themselves in a personal manner and it could help athletes gain popularity.
One way that athletes could use selfies to better connect to fans is by posting insider
selfies: selfies that give a glimpse into the day to day routine of the athlete, especially while they
are around the team (Lebel & Danylchuk, 2015). This is the kind of access that only the teams
Public Relations (PR) staff has, so it would provide a look into the the athletes day from their
point of view. Another way they could help to connect with fans is by posting healthies these
are selfies of one working out or partaking in some form of exercise or other physical activity
(Fausing, 2016). Obviously athletes are very physically impressive people they are fit and in
the gym quite often, so this could be popular selfie for them to post for fans. They can post a
healthie of their everyday training routine, as they progress on their physique and training goals,
or even after a game. Additionally, Fausing (2016) also identified usies, which is a selfie with
the taker and one or more persons. However, this sub-category of selfies seems redundant as
people take selfies with themselves as the focus and other people as additions to the picture. Just
because there are other people in the picture does not change the nature of the picture. If one
person is taking the picture of themselves, and happen to include others, it is still a selfie with
others. The nature of the selfie is to take an image of yourself, but sometimes they are done with
other people or things such as landmarks or statues these types are more for recording
experiences or moments than expressing ones self (Lyu, 2016). Indeed, selfies can help athletes
build connections to fans through their personal nature because selfies help people feel
connected to the poster, and an athlete could document their lives and experiences to share with
fans (Shipley, 2015). Documentation could include behind the scenes look at the team, either at

home in their city or on the road and the landmarks of that city; with the athletes family or home
life; or the athletes experiences.
However, there are some foreseeable issues which could arise from athletes posting more
selfies. The first of which are team social media policies. Most leagues and teams have rules
about no social media a certain amount of time before games, so that limits the athletes from
posting pictures from the most interesting time of the day, other than the game itself, especially
because many of these policies prevent players from even having their phones with them (Ortiz,
2011). Additionally, Lebel & Danylchuk (2014) argue that in terms of appeal, photos of athletes
in action were rated higher than those of selfies or pictures with family. This raises the question
whether or not the previous research mentioned earlier about selfie popularity holds true for
athletes, as most of these athletes are famous for the sport they play, not the pictures they take.
This shows an obvious difference to the micro-celebrities on social media, whose pictures have
made them famous (Kane, 2010; Senft, 2012). Athletes must also be careful with how many
selfies they post, as Houghton, Joinson, Caldwell, & Marder (2013) argue that posting too many
pictures of one self can turn off followers and even decrease the intimacy between the poster and
fans. This argument appears logical, as it would become too repetitive and constant, and the
athlete wouldnt appear to be sharing selfies with fans, but sharing at them. The inside look at the
athletes life wouldnt be so appealing if it is forced onto fans.
Furthermore, repeated pictures of ones self or flaunting ones body or possessions would
make people appear narcissistic or arrogant (Sorokowski et al., 2015; Lebel & Danylchuk, 2014).
Wickel (2015) argues that the act of taking selfies is narcissistic which is hard to argue with, as
the entire purpose of the act is take a picture of yourself, either because of what youre wearing,
what youre doing or how you look. The poster is literally telling the world to look at them.

Lebel & Danylchuks (2014) study, which found that athletes pictures of themselves were
judged to be arrogant or narcissistic, seems to align with the perception of some athletes that may
be held by the public. A likely reason for this perception would be that since these professional
athletes are the usually best in the world at their sport, they likely have a healthy ego and think
highly of themselves, as they should. This is certainly how many are portrayed in sport media.
There is also the possibility some people do not want to reminded that they arent physically
astounding athletic specimens who get paid millions of dollars a year just to play sports, which
could be why they find athletes who show off their life to be narcissistic. Limiting the amount of
selfies athletes post or carefully managing how they come across in those pictures is something
athletes must do (Lebel & Danylchuk, 2014). Athletes walk a fine line between arrogant and
beloved, and therefore must carefully manage their social media, including their selfies.
This careful management of athletes social media accounts is done with the purpose of
building their brand and marketing the athlete (Carlson & Donavan, 2013). Athletes themselves
have begun to become human brands. Human Brand is a marketing term used to describe a
well known persona that is used in marketing efforts (Thomson, 2006). These brands are made
up of everything the athlete does; their on-field play, their community service efforts, their role in
the media, how they interact with fans. The more popular the athlete, the more brand power, or
marketing potential, they have and can use to receive financial benefits (Thomson, 2006). Social
media use makes up a large part of an athletes brand, as the type of content they post greatly
affects how people perceive them and how marketable they are (Carlson & Donavan, 2013). For
example, if an athlete posts pictures with gang members or selfies at wild parties, this will
influence how people see that athlete and which companies, if any, will want to endorse them
(Smith & Sanderson, 2015). Carlson & Donavan (2013) argue that wholesomeness is one of the

most important factors when it comes to athletes self promotion. Indeed, athletes are public
figures, and as such they have the responsibility to be professionals in the media, on the field of
play, and on social media. It would be rather difficult to look up to an athlete whose selfies depict
him engaging in illegal or immoral activities. To have a company want to associate itself with an
athlete, that company is likely going to pick an athlete whose image is clean.
Unfortunately, many athletes have trouble maintaining a wholesome and respectable
image, and in the age of social media, an athletes mistakes can be shared much faster and
immediately than ever before. The whole point of being a brand is that these athletes are tools for
marketers to use in order to promote their product (Carlson & Donavan, 2013; Hambrick &
Mahoney, 2011). Carlson & Donavan (2013) argue that athletes distinctiveness, or their ability
to stand out from others, helps them gain endorsements, but usually they stand out for their
personality or athletic ability, not other possibly immoral factors. Through their athletic abilities
and personable natures, professional athletes make ideal candidates for marketers to use to
endorse their products (Shuart, 2007). As mentioned above, many athletes have huge followings
and would attract a lot of attention for a brand they are representing through their selfies.
Athletes can use selfies and their marketability to benefit themselves. One way would be
to take selfies wearing a sponsors clothing, such as a fashion brand, and sharing that selfie with
their followers. They do not need to explicitly draw attention to the brand or to make it obvious
they are promoting it; a simple selfie of them wearing a hat or shirt from a brand, with the
product not being the focus but being clearly visible in the picture, would suffice, as that way it
would not feel promoted and would seem more authentic. Another possibility would be for
athletes to promote a product, such as an energy drink or protein powder brand, by taking a
picture of them drinking it, but alluding the focus to the hard workout they just had and how this

brands product is their favourite recovery drink. Promoting products or clothes this way would
accomplish two things: it would allow the athlete to share their lives with people, allowing fans
to get a glimpse into the athletes life and what they like, and it would allow companies to use the
popularity of athletes to promote their products in a natural way, especially if it is seems as the
athlete enjoys the product (Carlson & Donavan, 2013). The key in these types of situations is
authenticity people will be turned off from blatantly obvious advertising attempts, and might
even be turned off from following the athlete as much if it seems they only post pictures of
themselves promoting something (Pronschinska, Groza, & Walker, 2012; Smith & Sanderson,
2015). When an athlete posts a picture the outcome is earned media attention; it brings attention
to the brand, both the athlete and company, and to the brand choice (Marciniak, 2015). If athletes
understand how to use their selfies to promote a brand and themselves without it seeming
unauthentic, they stand to earn a lot of money. They can use selfies to build their brand and
through that shape their identity.
An athletes identity is a fragile concept in this hyper connected age. The amount of
media coverage that athletes and sport get around the world is astounding, and much of fans
knowledge of athletes comes from the media interviews, stories, press conferences.
Consequently, many athletes images are shaped by the media, often to fit the medias narrative
or storyline (Smith & Sanderson, 2015). Typically, the medias portrayal of the athlete is either to
build them up into folk heroes, or more commonly, to tear them down for character issues and
problems (Smith & Sanderson, 2015). Selfies, and social media itself, can be used by athletes to
show who they really are, free of the medias influence.
Selfies would be the most direct and clear way for athletes to shape their identity. Qiu,
Lu, Yang, Qu, & Zhu (2015) argue that because of the intimacy of selfies and how personal they

are, they project the selfie takers personality traits. This finding may hold some merit, as it is
unlikely that one could understand a persons personality solely based on selfies, but glimpses of
it are certainly possible, as with other things people do that reflect parts of their personality.
Emmons & Mocarski (2014) state that pictures posted by athletes help to add social depth to the
conversation with fans, but also show off the athletes personality. This would likely be displayed
by the type of clothes the athlete wears in their selfies, their hobbies, who they take pictures with,
and other personality revealing photos.
A way to look at athletes identity and role is to look at the athletic aspect first. Athletes
first are identified by the sport they play, which may lead to assumptions, and if its a team sport,
theyre identified by the team they play on, their position on that team, their role (i.e. leader,
superstar, support player), and their identity in the media, through post-game interviews and
articles written about them, their jersey number, certain celebrations or moves, or anything they
do in the field of play that is unique to them. All of this encompasses their athletic identity or
what the fans see when they watch the athlete (Poux & Fry, 2015). What the public doesnt see is
their personal identity the identity we as people see of each other. People see one anothers
personal identity because they might be in proximity to them or personally know them. Athletes,
and celebrities, have a larger, more public identity that they posses in the media, which exists in
addition to their true identity as a person (Hambrick & Mahoney, 2011). But not many people
outside of an athletic organization come into contact with these athletes personally or frequently
enough, and as such are forced to rely on the accounts from the media. Fans are limited in their
knowledge about an athlete and must rely on reporters to get this information, which may be
biased or even untrue (Smith & Sanderson, 2015).

Selfies would allow the athlete to show people who they really are. Selfies of athletes
with their family, doing an activity they enjoy, on a day off, or just a regular selfie could show
more about who the athlete is than just what they do on the field of play or what the media
portrays. Athletes are not solely limited to who they are in sport, as it is easy forget that these
larger-than-life figures are people as well. The types of selfies they would post, based on their
facial expressions, the setting and the purpose would display who they are better than any twominute interview following a game could (Smith & Sanderson, 2015).
Since athletes cannot possibly meet every fan, their selfies would be the way that people
get a feel for who they are. The unfortunate nature of sports is that there is a never ending
demand for coverage and information about athletes and teams (Dauncey & Hare, 2013). As
media outlets must produce content to feed and indeed profit off of this interest, the unfortunate
consequence of this is that athletes often become dehumanized, subjected to harsh judgements,
and must endure intense scrutiny about who they are (Dauncey & Hare, 2013). Their identity
gets misconstrued, and there is nothing they can do to change how the media covers them.
However, they have the power to influence how they present themselves through their selfies.
There is also the possibility that they may misrepresent themselves through their selfies,
and come off as arrogant or narcissistic, either by posting too many selfies or because of the
nature of the picture (Lebel & Danylchuk, 2014; Houghton, Joinson, Caldwell, & Marder, 2013).
This could hurt their identity, or even reinforce the negativity that the media portrays. In sports,
once you have a bad reputation, it sticks with you until you do something really significant to
turn that around, and even then the media still brings it up. Athletes will have to be careful not to
hurt their image, or if they have a bad reputation, to use selfies to carefully. To change the
identity that the media creates for them, athletes must slowly present themselves differently

through their selfies, such as taking selfies with kids who are fans at practices shaking hands
and kissing babies type selfies will help. With selfies, their identity is in their hands because of
how personal it is for the athlete to show themselves how they want to be seen (Smith &
Sanderson, 2015; Emmons & Mocarksi, 2014; Qiu, Lu, Yang, Qu, & Zhu, 2015). This may not
always be a good thing, and based on some athletes social media use, it is likely best they refrain
from using it or use it sparingly.
Selfies have their uses and merits, and they seem like they are a trend that is here to stay.
While it is likely that athletes can use selfies to shape their identity, build stronger connections to
fans and increase their brand power, there are also many ways selfies could negatively affect
athletes too. As with everything that comes with being a public figure, athletes have more
opportunity to benefit from their selfies but also must be more careful about which ones they
post. Thoughtful and careful utilization of social media and selfies will benefit athletes, but there
is a fine line between positive and negative impact. Done correctly, selfies can help athletes
accomplish multiple goals.
.