Athletes in the Digital Realm: An Evaluation of Social Media Use Based on Selected Variables

İsmail İlbak1*, İbrahim Avcı2, Ramazan Bayer3

J. Sport. Res. and Innov., vol. 2, September 2025

1 Institute of Health Sciences, İnönü University, Malatya- 44050, Türkiye
2 Postgraduate Education Institute, Malatya Turgut Özal University, Malatya- 44050, Türkiye
3 Department of Physical Education and Sport Teaching, Malatya Turgut Ozal University, Malatya- 44050, Türkiye
*Correspondence: isma_ilbak@hotmail.com

Abstract

This study aims to examine athletes’ social media usage behaviors in relation to demographic and lifestyle variables such as gender, age, type of sport, athletic background, training frequency, and daily dietary frequency. The research was conducted within the framework of a descriptive survey model with the voluntary participation of 168 athletes. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire consisting of two sections. The first section included questions about participants’ demographic and athletic characteristics (gender, age, type of sport, duration of athletic involve-ment, weekly training frequency, and daily dietary frequency). In the second section, the “Athletes’ Social Media Usage Behavior Scale” was employed. The findings indicated that some demographic variables, such as gender and age, had a significant effect on content creation and frequency of social media use, while no significant differences were found in terms of social media addiction levels. Conversely, lifestyle-related variables such as type of sport, athletic background, training frequency, and daily dietary frequency were not found to be significant predictors of social media usage be-havior. These results suggest that social media usage is too complex to be explained solely by phys-ical or demographic factors. Rather, individual preferences, patterns of digital socialization, and personal relationships with media play a more influential role in shaping these behaviors. Accord-ingly, there is a need for qualitative or mixed-method studies that incorporate cultural, psychoso-cial, and technological contexts to gain a more comprehensive understanding of athletes’ interac-tions on digital platforms.

Keywords: athletes, social media usage, demographic variables, lifestyle factors

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