Negotiating authenticity : A study of young equestrians and social media

Social Networking Sites (SNS) as for example Facebook (FB) has become a great part of everyday life of contemporary teens (Boyd, 2014). Research show that frequent FB users compare themselves to the perfect personas constructed on SNS, which leads to a belief that other users are more successful than themselves even in their offline-lives (Vogel et al, 2014). Media studies show that there is a strong negative correlation between media coverage and a high proportion of female athletes. A likely explanation for the low coverage of equestrian sport is evidently that a majority of the riders are girls and women. Yet, new media habits in the era of digitalization, challenge our previous experiences of who and what is covered on SNS in relation to equestrian sports (Dashper, 2017). In order to understand how online communication affects different groups in society, it is important to assemble information about online culture(s). Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze young riders’ use of SNS in relation to their everyday life around the horse, so as to identify cyber culture(s) connected to equestrian sport. To understand young riders' relations to SNS, Erving Goffman's theory impression management and the concepts Face-to-Face and Persona-to-Persona will be used (Goffman, 1959). The concept of authenticity and Judith Butlers theory regarding gender performativity (Butler, 1988) is used as a lens to analyze cultures emerging among riders on SNS. The empirical data has been collected through six focus group interviews at two Swedish equestrian centers. The population consist of 25 students (15 to 18 years). This study shows that the image of the perfect equestrian life on SNS is governed by profiles using impression management, which ultimately leads to stress and anxiety among adolescents. Ideal images of super boys and girls in the cyber stable are created on SNS. The findings also show that the adolescents’ relationship to SNS is complex. They admire- and compare themselves to riders who seem to be perfect athletes, at the same time they long to see a more authentic image of everyday life on SNS. It seems like the young equestrians are negotiating the concept of authenticity, constantly searching for content which break cultural barriers and challenge the idea of the perfect rider. Furthermore, they are negotiating gender constructions presented on SNS and question the ideal images of super girls and boys. Boyd, D (2014) It’s complicated : the social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press Butler, J (1988) Performance Acts and Gender Construction: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal 40(4) 519-531 Dashper, K (2017) Human-Animal Relationships in Equestrian Sport and Leisure. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Goffman, E (1959: 2014) Jaget och maskerna. Malmö: Studentlitteratur Vogel, EA, Rose, JP, Roberts, LR, Eckles, K (2014) Social Comparison, Social Media, and Self-Esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture (3)4 206–222Stable Cultures in Cyberspac