Social Media and Sports

Has accessible medias impact on the passe-part protrude sports domain of a function been positive or prejudicial? amic open media has made a massive impact on our culture. cardinal of the beas that has not been affected is sea captain sports. In todays world, professional sports team ups and fakers from more or less the world habituate genial media to connect with their global fan bases. Sports teams attempt to develop a larger, stronger fan base by engaging fans through neighborly media sites. Additionally, loving media sites stomach professional athletes to increase their market tycoon.However, they hatful also severely damage their career, individualized life, and their brand if they do not engage everywhere their well-disposed media interactions with care ( van Schaik). chirrup and Facebook allow teams and shams to be interactive and personal with fans. They fag use these platforms to not besides deliver basic team intelligence information updates, but to piece of ground information about enter signings, charity events, or ticket specials too. One of the most important aspects of any sports team is that they founder a loyal, growing fan base that feels manage they are valued and appreciated. Therefore, these fans testament stand by their team through thick and thin.Social media provides the perfect opportunity for that. Sports teams and athletes are becoming more and more efficient at using societal media to create a positive impact on their team and their fans. One of the positive impacts of social media on professional sports is the ability to share news and information with fans through it. Social media websites are beginning to replace sports radio and c open networks as the dominant places to find the latest shift sports news. It seems more and more sports fans are turning to the internet for the latest sports news, updates, and information about their favorite teams or players. more specifically, fans are utilizing s ocial sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In fact, fans are 10 times more probable to check Facebook or Twitter for their sports news than sports radio. Also, an all overwhelming 81% of fans prefer the net for their sports information over any other platform (Blakley). Fans just are checking social media before or after the games either. More than 80% of fans interact via social media objet dart watching games (Altobelli). I potbelly attest to these statistics because I am one of this growing majority. There are a some reasons I choose to use the net and social media for my sports news nstead of sports radio or TV. prototypical off, with social media and the Internet I am able to find information about my favorite player or team instantly. With TV or sports radio, you basically direct to take the information as it is given. For example, ESPN chooses to focus on teams from major cities like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. Very rarely will I be able to find daily updates on an hurt Minnesota Twins player by watching Sportscenter. Instead, I can click on over to the Minnesota Twins Facebook page or Twitter and find daily injury updates. some other upside to social media in this situation is that it is up to the minute information.Most sports radio shows or cable networks argue what happened yesterday in the sports news world. Social media is constantly updating so there is a plethora of new information al elbow rooms streaming. Lastly, I prefer social media over the other forms of sports news because they are readily available to me. Sports radio and ESPN are not always as mobile as I would like. I am not able to take Sportscenter into the car with me. Also, I do not hurt a reliable sports radio station to listen to in my area. At times I can get KFAN from the Twin Cities, but not on a consistent basis.Therefore, any sports radio news updates come about once an hour and are quite brief. Additionally, I spend a chew of time at my girlfriends cabi n during the summer months. At her cabin, they only view a few basic local channels. ESPN is not available. As a result, I turn to social media and my cell phone for sports news. Rarely do I miss a beat because of the efficiency and accuracy of the social media websites. Social media has already made a giant impact on how sports information is shared with fans. It is only going to keep growing as technology spreads and more fans get familiar with smart phones and tablets.Another way social media has affected the sports world is by bringing fans closer to the game. As a sports fan, I can agree that fans always want to feel closer to the game. That is why people still pay crackbrained ticket prices to attend ball games instead of watching them on TV in the comfort of their reenforcement room. Fans impart an urge for that connection and closeness. They want to feel apart of the game. Social media sites provide teams and players the unique ability to directly connect with their fan s. It used to be the closest you got to a favorite player was a post-game radio interview.Now, you can follow them on Twitter and have rare insight into their everyday world. Players use sites like Facebook and Twitter to give fans a behind the scenes look at what happens at home, in the locker room, and on the sidelines. Social media gives pro athletes the chance to interact and share data with fans in a way that was not possible in the past. Fans used to only know about a player from what they read in the paper or saw on TV (Van Schaik) . Now, fans can find out what their favorite player ate for breakfast or what music they are listening to.Fans have yearned for this manakin of accessibility for years and now it is becoming a reality. I actually have friends that make it a daily ritual to check their favorite players Twitter. Actually, being able to follow players and coaches is probably the toughgest reason why I created a Twitter in the first place. I love the inside look into their personal lives. It is very cool when you find out how much you do or do not have in common with them. One of the highlights of my Twitter career was when I tweeted Kevin Love after a Timberwolves game and congratulated him on his performance and the teams win.A few minutes later, I received what is called a retweet from Love basically severalizeing thank you. I was short-winded out-of-door. It meant a lot to me to know that Kevin Love took thirty upholds out of his life to tell me, some cipher fan, thank you. It is almost as if social media has taken the place of autographs. Before, you wanted players autographs, now you want players to say something back to you on Twitter (Blakley). Social media is a great way for athletes to communicate and engage with fans. It allows players and teams to share information with them before it has been filtered by the news media.Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental in raising the profile of athletes in every sport. It allows them to give a personal perspective on all aspects of the competition, seemingly unhindered by various PR and marketing machines. magical spell the majority of social medias impact on professional sports has been positive, there is definitely a negative side that should be discussed. In the early age of social media, some sports leagues had trouble regulating player usage of it. People who grew up long before the Internet age govern most sports.This creates a problem when they try to tackle the hacks surrounding sports and social media (Westhenry). First off, there was the problem with players actually posting on Twitter immediately side by side(p) and even during their games. group discussion officials found social media to be a distraction to their players. Accordingly, the NBA and NFL implemented policies that limited when players and staff could use social media. The NBAs policy bans the usage of social media from 45 minutes before tipoff until after the players have fulfilled the ir other media duties following the game.The NFL stretched it to 90 minutes before and after games (Westhenry). The other major issue surrounding social media and sports is controlling what athletes post or say. Athletes are and should have the freedom to share their personal opinions and ideas through social media. In fact, it should be encouraged for them to do so. Like Ive stated before, fans have a desire to feel connected with players and love that uncensored feeling. However, if not handled with care, social media has the potential to earnestly damage a players private life, athletic performance, and possibly their career.All it takes is a split second of poor judgment and one senseless social media posting for a major incident to occur. many athletes shop to remember the impact their social media activity can have. Others fall victim to the dangers of being make by obnoxious fans. When athletes dispose of their frustrations and anger online without thinking over the conseq uences, the results are rarely good (Van Schaik). While there are numerous examples of this happening, I will only share a couple. To begin with, we can look at the case of Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall.He posted controversial comments on his Twitter following the death of Osama bin Laden that caused him to lose an endorsement contract. Mendenhall had previously stirred up a affray when he posted his opinion about the 9/11 attacks (Westhenry). More recently, there was the case of San Antonio Spurs ship Stephen Jackson. He was fined $25,000 for threatening another NBA player via Twitter (Jackson Fined for Tweet about Ibaka). Countless athletes fail to learn from the lessons of others. It is frustrating to me as a fan to see player after player get in trouble for something they said on a social media site.Many athletes fail to recognize the importance of their social media channels to their sponsors and their teams. Also, some seem to think that because they ar e using social media that it permits them to forgo traditional media protocol (Van Schaik). An athletes words reach far beyond just their fans and followers. They impact colleagues, friends and their family. One anomalous tweet can instantly turn into a scandal with the capability to damage the athlete, their team, and their sponsors (Van Schaik). A big component here is sponsors. Many sports superstars are actually brands in themselves.They represent their team, league, city, fans and sponsors. It is important to note that while some of their income comes from their sports contract, a lot of their money comes from being a public figure (Van Schaik). Creating the terms headlines and wrong type of publicity can cost an athlete not only thousands in fines, but millions of dollars in sponsorship money too. Every single athlete has to be aware of the social media pitfalls and consequences. While many stars have been forgiven for their online troubles, the problem is that the commonn ess of such mistakes is growing.If the trend continues, it will surely damage the positive impact that these talk platforms have had on professional sports (Westhenry). I feel that the best way for the sports world to handle these issues is through education and guidelines. Social media is still in its infancy. Therefore, leagues and teams must educate their players on social media and how to use it. As social media becomes a larger part of everyday life for millions of people around the world, people will also become more educated about how social media works. This will helper alleviate some of these issues (Westhenry).Lastly, leagues and teams need to develop a social media code of conduct for their athletes. For example, if a player would get suspended for cursing or ranting at a team press conference, they should have the alike(p) consequences for a social media outburst. If they would get fined for complaining about officials to a TV camera, do the same if they complain abou t them on their Twitter (Westhenry). Like I stated before, the more athletes and sports teams use social media, the more educated they will become. With a little common sense, some education, and a few regulations, these negative social media issues will fade away.Sports fans love social media. This can be illustrated by the millions of followers athletes have on networking sites. Moreover, athletes themselves seem to truly love social media. It allows them a platform to step away from the normal interview cliches and really have some freedom in what they say. Sites like Twitter and Facebook allow fans to get to know their favorite athletes on a deeper, more personal level. The increasing use of social media in the professional sports world can have a substantially positive impact on a player and an organization.While there is criticism surrounding its usage, the positives are overwhelming. There is no doubt that sports has and will continue to benefit from social media. Works Cited Altobelli, Diana. The Rise of Social Media in Professional Sports. 1 SEO. N. p. , 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2012. . Blakley, Julie. Sports and Social Media. Postano. N. p. , 7 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. . Jackson Fined for Tweet about Ibaka. NBA. com. N. p. , 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 012. . Van Schaik, Thomas. Professional Athletes on Social Media Why Some Get Fans and Others Fines. Sports Networker. N. p. , 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2012. . Westhenry, Rowanne. Sports Stars on Twitter Marketing Geniuses or Massive Twits? Bleacher Report. N. p. , 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. .