A Survey on University Students’ Cognition and Attitudes toward Athletes’ Self- Media Content

Objective: Against the backdrop of the new media era, this paper explores the cognition and attitudes of college students toward athletes’ self-media content. Methods: Questionnaire survey and mathematical statistics were mainly adopted. An online questionnaire survey was conducted among 345 college students, aiming to analyze college students’ cognition and attitudes toward athletes’ use of self-media and online hot events related to athletes. Results: (1) The proportion of college students’ active attention to athletes’ self-media is relatively high, with small gender differences and significant grade differences; (2) The creation and release of content related to athletes are mainly concentrated among fans or external groups; (3) College students show small differences in their cognition of athletes’ specific events, and most of their attitudes are neutral and conservative. Conclusions: (1) The popularity of athletes’ self-media content continues to rise, and athletes’ personal images become increasingly vivid; (2) College students’ attention to athletes’ self-media content has increased, and the differences in their attitudes are relatively small; (3) The shaping effect of self-media platforms on athletes is obvious, which gradually influences college students’ cognition; (4) The trend of “fandom” in the sports field is gradually strengthening, and the characteristics of fan culture are becoming increasingly prominent. Based on this, the following suggestions are proposed: (1) Strengthen the supervision of media platforms and standardize the creation of relevant content; (2) Cultivate college students’ rational thinking and improve their ability to distinguish information; (3) Rationally view the “traffic” effect and explore the benign convergence point between the online space and the real society; (4) Create a harmonious and green interactive platform, and build a friendly interaction bridge between college students and athletes.