CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

Romnie (2019) identified 6 main barriers for minorities to enter into esports as competitors, and Romnie encourages women’s tournaments as a way for players to get exposure to teams in a safe environment; however, tournaments are intended to be a first step, and what comes next is more difficult and nuanced to identify. One potential avenue is to use various social media platforms to advocate for minorities who compete and work in esports. This paper presents a preliminary study examining how Twitter and podcasts are used to advocate for inclusion, community, and support for those pursuing a career in esports. I will focus on how two groups use Twitter to promote their organizations and examine a podcast featuring competitive female/non-binary Hearthstone players. Based on preliminary findings, I compare and contrast the differences in the two platforms and hypothesize that podcasts offer a unique and focused avenue for advocacy.