Social Media as an Outlet for Community Response and Dialogue Following the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot

Abstract

The 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot (VSCR)—one of the most significant sports-related public disorder events to occur in Vancouver in recent decades—was the first sporting riot in North America that was characterised by the use of social media (McCann, 2011). Given this significant influence, this research uses qualitative content analysis to explore how persons posting on Facebook pages dedicated to the VSCR in the six months following constructed the meaning of the event and its participants. Using the insights of social identity theory, the findings suggest that online discussions of this event centred on an understanding of communities and community membership which was reflected in individuals’ attempts to reassert specific community identities as “law abiding” and “peaceful”, primarily accomplished through the identification, othering, and derogation of riot participants. The findings further suggest that the VSCR was constructed as damaging to the reputations of particular communities and their members resulting in the need for community repair, while its participants were constructed as deviant and threatening “others” who were deserving of punishment, vengeful conduct, and strict police treatment.