Social Media and the spreading of news
Before social media has taken off the way it has, people had to read newspapers or watch TV to find out the latest happenings in the sporting world. Now, people are all on Twitter and Bleacher Report trying to find the latest updates in the sport world. Because of this, news updates are coming more frequently and faster than ever before. Journalists now use Twitter and other forms of social media to help spread news before the full article is written so that fans can have an opportunity to get the quick scoop instead of having to wait for a headline. This has occasionally even allowed the average fan to get breaking news before major journalists, such as when 2 teenagers broke the Billy Butler deal with the A's before insiders such as Ken Rosenthal had a chance. Social media allows big plays to be spread faster than ever before, such as the Odell Beckham Jr. catch against the Cowboys, which went viral almost within the hour.
Of course, social media and news spreading also has its downsides. Because of how fast stories spread, there is the increased likelihood of inaccuracies being reported when news is broken in such a manner. While not directly related to sport, the false identification of several suspects after the Boston Marathon bombings showed the danger of how social media can mis-report the news. Quality of news reporting can also decrease since social media is an outlet that lets anyone posts the stories that they want, which can result in the lower denominator out-muscling the quality news sources.
Overall, social media and the spreading of news is what I see as a positive development for the sporting world, since it helps satisfy our desire for faster and more frequent news of our favorite players and teams.
Source:
http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2014/11/19/101946254/meet-the-two-teens-who-scooped-the-mlb-world-and-broke-news-of-the-billy-butler-signing
Monday, November 24, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Athletes and Social Media Branding
This blog is going to be an extension of a paper I wrote earlier about linking professional players and social media.
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of participating in a Q&A session with Koby Altman, who is the Director of Pro Personnel for the Cleveland Cavaliers. One of the questions that was asked during the session was his take on social media and how it affects the players and vice versa. While he mainly said that they can't stop social media and athletes from mixing as long as it's not harmful, he made a key point in noting how top level players have levered social media to be a branding and marketing tool for their name. LeBron James was cited as a key example in his answer, as he noted that LeBron is the most followed player on Twitter, and has used Twitter as a marketing platform for his business ventures. In this vein, other players of similar clout would be Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, and Jeremy Lin, to cite a few examples. What all these players have in common is the massive popularity behind them, whether it's due to the style of play or their uniqueness. However, all these players have the ability to turn their social media profile into a brand unto itself, as a perfect of way of self-promoting while allowing an even more intimate experience for their fans, who may have a chance of getting to personally interact with their favorite athletes. At the same time, these guys need to be aware that since social media is more instantaneous, so is the brand they have built for themselves, and thus they need to be extra careful on how or what they post for the world to see. Fortunately, most of these players likely have a good marketing team to help them coordinate their social media campaigns so they won't need to worry to much about a snafu occurring with their social media planning.
At the end, as long as these guys plan well and play well, they can see their social media brands rise as fast as a tech stock on Wall St. At the same time, they can see it fall as fast as Enron stock after their fraud came to light, so they need to make sure that their social media activities can withstand the pitfalls and controversies that can easily arise from this.
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of participating in a Q&A session with Koby Altman, who is the Director of Pro Personnel for the Cleveland Cavaliers. One of the questions that was asked during the session was his take on social media and how it affects the players and vice versa. While he mainly said that they can't stop social media and athletes from mixing as long as it's not harmful, he made a key point in noting how top level players have levered social media to be a branding and marketing tool for their name. LeBron James was cited as a key example in his answer, as he noted that LeBron is the most followed player on Twitter, and has used Twitter as a marketing platform for his business ventures. In this vein, other players of similar clout would be Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, and Jeremy Lin, to cite a few examples. What all these players have in common is the massive popularity behind them, whether it's due to the style of play or their uniqueness. However, all these players have the ability to turn their social media profile into a brand unto itself, as a perfect of way of self-promoting while allowing an even more intimate experience for their fans, who may have a chance of getting to personally interact with their favorite athletes. At the same time, these guys need to be aware that since social media is more instantaneous, so is the brand they have built for themselves, and thus they need to be extra careful on how or what they post for the world to see. Fortunately, most of these players likely have a good marketing team to help them coordinate their social media campaigns so they won't need to worry to much about a snafu occurring with their social media planning.
At the end, as long as these guys plan well and play well, they can see their social media brands rise as fast as a tech stock on Wall St. At the same time, they can see it fall as fast as Enron stock after their fraud came to light, so they need to make sure that their social media activities can withstand the pitfalls and controversies that can easily arise from this.
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