Social Media Enter the Stadium

Just prior to the opening of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, a 21-year-old Georgian luger died after his sled left the Whistler Sliding Centre track traveling at 140 kilometres an hour. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, Leanne Ritchie examines how Canadian media discursively constructed social media users and their sharing of the images, video, and opinions following the tragedy. The results show a tendency in traditional media to discursively construct social media as outsiders, separate from the audience. It s an in-depth look at how Canadian media pushed Canadian social media users to follow traditional media norms and etiquette while Canada was in the Olympic spotlight.

Autorentext

Leanne Ritchie is a writer and journalist in British Columbia. Over the past 15 years, her work has appeared in newspapers across Canada. She obtained her Masters in Professional Communication in 2011. She currently lives on Vancouver Island with her partner, James.