Monday, September 21, 2009

NFL and Twitter


A nice article on the whole Twitter vs the NFL from the Green Bay Press. Discusses the current situation, potential problems and the future of social media in the NFL.

I found this one interesting because it talks about how pro-athletes are benefitting financially from this tool. I figured social media was a great way for the fans to interact with professional athletes. Little did I realize that a lot of the tweets contain brands and products that sponsor the athlete.

Imagine that. Signing an endorsement deal for millions of dollars, with the promise that you maintain over 50,000 followers and mention the sports drink that’s paying your bills. It could happen.

Chad Ochocinco is a pretty active Twit and likes to keep things quite confrontational with the NFL. He's known as a prima-donna and enjoys any attention he gets. But definitely a favorite just for his over-the-top touchdown celebrations and honest opinions about the NFL and its social media policy.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Reset!


Lack of time and other minor commitments have prevented me from really getting into this blog. I have a bunch of ideas, with a lot of them very closely related to the MACT program.

So I think a quick reset is in order to re-focus where this blog is going and what my goals are.

My main focus is on how professional sports are impacted by various communication technologies. There's lots of social theories out there that can look at how development of technology has impacted the business of professional sports, but also the fan.

Must be my sociology background kicking in but I'm finding it pretty amazing how a group of people, sports fans, have changed significantly over the last few years, let alone the past 100.

I had the chance to read "Hockey Night in Canada: Sports, Identities, and Cultural Politics" by Richard Gruneau this past summer. Discusses how the sport of hockey has influenced the identity of culture of Canadians and the many contributing factors. So not exactly communications and technology related, but it still gives a sense of how important pro-sports are to a country.

New tools like Twitter, Facebook and UStream are bringing pro-athletes even closer to fans. These fans in turn are beginning to develop their own methods of getting involved with the game and gaining knowledge that isn't provided by large institutions such as broadcast media.

I'm still undecided if this will be my final research project but it's a great way for me to apply what I learn to a topic that I'm very interested in.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Michael Jackson Hoax

If this is true, this makes for an interesting social experiment. Shows how fast misinformation can spread with the development of technology.



Not exactly sports related but the spread of rumors is getting faster in the professional sporting world. Twitter is leading the charge with journalists and "insiders" using the tool to send updates.