Internet Influence on Amateur Football League Communities

Jan Mateusz Zając, Maciej Zbyszewski

This article analyses the influence of Internet on amateur football league communities. Even though these societies only use the Internet as a supplementary source in their daily activities, they have been significantly influenced by it. The use of Internet applications (web pages, electronic mail, discussion fora) changed and improved the communication means for these communities. Thanks to the Internet, there are now new possibilities for control, also due to decreased anonymity as well as increased consciousness with regard to social norms and facilitated discussion and negotiation possibilities. The discussion forum has become especially important leading to livelier debate but, at the same time, increased the threat of aggression. The changes resulted from increased amount of interaction as well as increased quality of interaction. In view of the positive Internet influences taking place, we also need to take into account the discrepancies in access to this type of communication between the members.

KEYWORDS

community, Internet, Internet interaction, communication model, discussion forum, amateur sport