3pm Journal of Digital research & publishing - artichoke web design

3pm Journal of Digital research & publishing
as absolute, if the traditional media had not shown their support (Shirky 2010). Not only
would The Old Boys Rugby Choir not have had credible content for their story and site, they
wouldn’t have had truly mass consumer exposure beyond their local communities (Flew
2007) � . Coupled with privileged access to Rugby HQ: a couple of the group members are
prominent businessmen, The Old Boys Rugby Choir use of a mix of old and new media
channels with outstandingly efficient results.
As professional journalists themselves will admit, Twitter.com is an efficient and effective
way for sourcing content (crowd-sourcing � ).
While professional journalism, media, and corporate hierarchies still exist and prosper,
thanks to technological advances in computers, mobile telephony and new media, they
also exist alongside not only each other but new social media platforms which enable an
entirely new style of conversation, consumption and participation (Shirky 2010). A by-
product of this is random ‘reader’ engagements and non-linear style communications.
Conclusion
Rugby union fills a particular socio-cultural niche with it’s own unique history and cultural
discourse. It has its own ritual patterns, a stable structure of community comprising
administrator, fans, supporters, sponsors and players; as well as cultural norms of
engagement and relationship patterns � . Twenty-first century media is the antithesis to
this. It is global, social, ubiquitous, and cheap, and has created a media environment where
the ‘audience’ are now full participants (Shirky, 2010). Within this sphere, the traditional
media and communications practice, that was structured around the principle of control,
is plausible in the case of rugby union community due to the traditional institutional elite
maintaining agency via structure, knowledge and networked relationships.
The inherent differences between the way members of the rugby community construct
identity and engage online is reflective of traditional social constructs. The arrival of
new social media platforms and mobile telephony technologies have not redefined the
communities, but afforded a ubiquitous connection to broader community discussions in
which engagement is varied and participation optional. Accordingly, new media capability
has not redefined professional rugby’s rules of media and fan engagement, although it
has exposed some cultural elements of key subgroups such as: hybrid language and
colloquialisms used in private conversations between players and their associates and the
process of media information distribution.
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