Microblogging in the Sports Sphere
What is microblogging and what are its benefits in a modern society?
Microblogging is all around us, we consume it every day. Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably even produced at least one microblog in your life.
In fact, I have unknowingly been a microblogger since I was a young teenager. I used to Tweet my stream of consciousness almost every day and I even commentated my thoughts during sports games to my few followers. Little did I know, I was learning how to microblog. And you probably did too.
You can read more about my experience with social media throughout my life as a millennial below:
What is microblogging?
A microblog is a short piece of content designed for quick audience interactions.
Microblogs are all around us and they probably contribute to a large proportion of content that we consume, even if you don’t notice it.
Microblogging makes it easier to communicate with audiences quickly. Rather than writing pages of text, a micro blog allows for quick, conversational connections with customers.
Benefits of microblogging
Most companies and brands with social media personalities are most likely already microblogging, without even knowing about it. It has become such a trend in contemporary society that we don’t even notice it anymore.
Microblogging is a critical part of building connections with modern audiences. Some of the benefits of a microblog include:
Frequent posts: Consistency is key. Microblogging allows companies to share shorter content faster. This creates more conversational connections with customers.
Less time developing content: Some companies struggle to create lengthy article content regularly. Microblogs maintain relationships in between longer blog, video and infographic posts.
Real-time sharing: In a fast-paced environment, microblogging allows companies to share time-sensitive information. A quick tweet tells an audience about a sale, breaking news and other crucial updates.
Microblogging is creating new careers
Now, you may have never even heard of microblogging before this not so micro blog, but yes, you’ve read that right. Microblogging is indeed generating jobs and most successful social media channels follow the same strategy of conversational content which converts into high engagement.
New jobs such microblogging on a social media platform could never have been anticipated a mere 10 to 15 years ago, but they exists and they are thriving.
Chad Ochocinco (@ochocinco) is a former NFL superstar but has since forged a new career on Twitter, generating over 3.3 million engaged and loyal followers. Creating his own personal brand on a microblogging platform like Twitter has given Ochocinco the opportunity to strive for television deals and a ton of non-sports press.
Paddy Power (@paddypower) are perhaps the most well known brand for microblogging in the world of football on Twitter. Paddy Power deploys the power of satire, colloquialism and interaction to engage with its followers. They opt to create viral tweets about trending sporting moments, rather than exclusively betting odds. The approach to be reactionary and to produce viral and highly engaging content has attracted followers who choose to follow for the brand’s personality rather than for their passion towards betting.
Paddy Power tweet daily match updates and commentary and produce reactionary memes that catch the attention of sporting fans around the world.
The trend of allowing brands the freedom to have a personality and the freedom of expression through reactionary and viral content has changed the sporting sphere of football journalism.
New publications and platforms are being formed (and sold)
The trend of microblogging has presented the opportunity for new and upcoming brands to have a voice in an already saturated market. Brands like Bleacher Report, who lead the market in visually engaging content, have reportedly been sold for up to $200 million.
Emerging brands like The Athletic has also found a footing in the industry through their social media presence. Relying on captivating journalism pieces and highly engaging content, they have built a strong fan base of loyal followers and paying subscribers. They have paved the way for a new wave of sports journalism.
Social powered media
Twitter has gained a large following among sports fans (Price et al. 2013). For example, in the 2016 UEFA European Championship, more than 14 million tweets were sent in one night when Portugal beat France to win the competition, resulting in 109 million tweets in total relating to the #EURO2016.
It is now quicker and more accessible to engage and interact with audiences through social media compared to traditional means like email. Embracing social media like this allows for connections to form between sports personalities, media companies and audience members.
Companies like Sports Centre and ESPN and global sports teams are opting for this more down-to-earth approach and are connecting with audiences on a personal level, often communicating colloquially and trying for viral moments.
For example, here are some tweets through a week of build up and match day microblogging on Twitter that sees AS Roma face up against Derby della Capitale opponents Lazio:
This is the first tweet in a series of build up coverage that leads up to match day.
Here we see a big amount of prepared content and statistics for AS Roma supporters on match day. If you’re wondering how player data is managed and who actually owns player data, read my blog here to find out more.
Here we can see an example of microblogging relaying an important bit of information to supporters, quick and efficiently. A substitution is made and the admin of the account can let followers know this instantly and without complications.
The pressure to produce more is harming sports journalism
New wave sports journalism has seen a rise in the production of content through microblogging in particular and this has resulted in great success through engagement and interaction with audiences. However, this culminates together and creates lacklustre reporting and coverage.
It’s not just sports news that is being affected, either. Journalism as an industry are choosing to follow this trend and favouring fast engagement, but this results in a ‘watered down’ state of affairs.
For every useful news detail tweeted, there are hundreds of useless guesses, speculations and mentions of mysterious sources tweeted by sports media types. This has given the old-school media guys something to point to when they criticize the legitimacy of sports blogging and microblogging.
— C., Craft.
I would suggest that when you consume media, you remain vigilant and aware of microblogging and are aware of the dangers of ‘watered down’ news, combining it with more respectable and credible news sources to stay factually relevant and up to date on accurately reported news.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my thoughts on microblogging in the sporting sphere as much I did writing it. I would love to hear your thoughts on microblogging within the industry and if you even knew you were a microblogger yourself.
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