Framing online reactions to FIFA's anterior cruciate ligament-menstrual cycle study announcement: A multi-platform
Samantha A D'Agostino-Pinto1,2, Sara Santarossa1,3, Cathryn D Peltz1,3
1Department of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health, Detroit, MI, USA.
Objectives:
As social media continues to rapidly evolve, understanding public participation in discourse and ensuring accurate interpretation has become increasingly vital. The widespread incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in female soccer players, including many high-profile athletes, has prompted calls for research into potential risk factors and preventative strategies. In response to this growing concern, on April 29, 2025, a research collaboration between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Kingston University was announced, aiming to examine the relationship between ACL injuries and the menstrual cycle in female soccer players.
Methods:
This study utilizes framing theory to provide critical insight into the presentation and debate of public discourse regarding FIFA's ACL-menstrual cycle study announcement and examine how those reactions were framed. Comments were exported from the collaborative post by ESPN, ESPNW, and ESPNFC on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook. Human coding was used to identify prominent frames by which each comment was then coded to fall under.
Results:
The following frames were identified from the comments: Denial, Encouragement, Timeliness, and Male Centricity, with Denial encompassing the largest number of comments across all three datasets.
Conclusions:
This study highlights the public discourse around sex-specific health topics and highlights the importance of intentional communication strategies when disseminating health information on social networking sites.
