Abstract
A survey administered to current intercollegiate forensics competitors indicated members of the geographically dispersed forensics community extend existing community spaces using social networking sites (SNS). Results indicate participants connected and interacted with team members, fellow competitors, and judges using multiple SNS about forensics and non-forensics related topics. Participants reported differing levels of self-monitoring behaviors, which manifested in emphasizing or stifling particular personality attributes. Emphasized attributes included the participant’s education level, professionalism, or consistency with perceived community values. Stifled content included competitive secrets, politics, profanity, and other negative personal images. Experienced competitors noted the overwhelmingly positive impacts on competitive success of networking with judges, both in person and using SNS. Finally, participants noted online interactions impacted offline interactions and identity portrayals within forensics.
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Recommended Citation
Walker, J. L.
(2021).
Geographically Dispersed Community Networks: Exploring Social Networking Site Experiences and Relationships in the Intercollegiate Forensics Community.
Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal, 44(1).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2471-0032.1099
