Possibilities and pitfalls abound among Twitterati
The rise in popularity of social media is one of the defining elements of the 21st century.
I think Twitter is a hugely positive force for sport, but it isn’t without some negatives.
Twitter and sports are massively interlinked and to think otherwise is naïve. Go back two years to the Olympic Games in London and 74,000 tweets per minute were clocked around the time of Usain Bolt’s 100m final. The 2013 Super Bowl final saw a huge 185,000 tweets per minute during play, this rose to a colossal 250,000 during the power outage! The Twitter world loves to react to events as they are happening in real time.
During the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi there were over 38 million tweets sent. This summer’s World Cup in Brazil looks certain to create new records.
Twitter has changed how the world connects and communicates 140 characters at a time. Twitter has given millions of people access to the everyday lives of sportspeople. It gets fans a little closer to the behind-the-scenes world of sport. Sports stars are often guarded in their interviews but Twitter has showcased a refreshing sense of the unguarded personalities of many stars.
Rory Mcilroy (@McIlroyRory) has tweeted everything from his gym sessions to his eating habits to his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki).
I’ve a Twitter account (@dervalorourke) and I use it most days. I set up my account after the 2012 Olympics, the thought of people being able to send me messages seemed a bit daunting pre-Olympics so I avoided it.
The majority of people tweet nice messages but abusive or nasty comments, though rare, are part and parcel of life on Twitter.
I’m glad I didn’t have an account during the London Games but I don’t regret setting one up since — 99% of my twitter engagement is positive and fun.
For other Olympic athletes having Twitter interaction was a good thing in London. In many Olympic sports, athletes are often on display just once every four years and Twitter is an opportunity for competitors to raise their profiles.
In minority sports it’s much harder to garner coverage in between the Olympics. Having an active Twitter profile can make a person more attractive to fans and sponsors — often it’s not just about winning medals and matches but about being accessible.
Natalya Coyle (@Natalyacoyle), an Irish modern pentathlete, has nearly 3,000 followers. A lot of these started following during the London Olympics and now will get a little access to her on the road to Rio 2016.
An added and hilarious element on Twitter are the parody accounts. It was only a matter of time before a plethora of fake sports-themed accounts arrived. One of my favourites is @pseudofed, a fake Roger Federer account that likes to tweet during Federer tennis matches with insight in the form of “courtside tweetings”.
Closer to home almost 30,000 followers are finding the fake Rob and Dave Kearney (@boringkearney) account entertaining. The focus on the mundane is strangely entertaining, recently telling us: “I do enjoy a pause for thought.”
Twitter isn’t all fun and games, though. A tweet sent in haste as a reaction to something can have major repercussions for the athlete. They can lose sponsors and do serious damage to their brand. I think that’s part of the appeal for the masses, there is always a chance some high profile star is going to lose the plot in a spur of the moment uncensored rant.
If I’m unhappy about something I try to avoid Twitter because the temptation to rant is too great. It’s one thing to give out over a cup of coffee in private but an entirely different matter to do it on Twitter.
The NFL has banned players from tweeting 90 minutes before a game until after post-match interviews. Some players have ignored the ban and received fines but most of the time the rule is followed.
Twitter can create trends in an instant and promote news stories regardless of their truth or merit. At the recent Sochi Olympics, the hashtag “Sochi problems” became popular when journalists and athletes displayed some of the issues in Sochi. People would take a picture of something — a broken toilet or a sign translated in a funny way — and tweet it with #sochiproblems. Within a couple of days @sochiproblems was set up as an account and had far more followers than the official account of the Games.
Sports brands are trying to be witty in their use of Twitter. In the immediate aftermath of Andy Murray being crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Adidas sent out a great tweet. It’s been an ongoing criticism of Murray that he lacks personality and Adidas scored major points with their tweet, “Not bad for a man with no personality” alongside a picture of Murray in Adidas apparel. The tweet was re-tweeted around 13,000 times, with Murray himself being one of those to re-tweet it.
I believe Twitter will continue to grow as a platform to watch and engage with sport and sportspeople. For the most part I think it’s great, but a few moments’ thought before pressing send is never a bad thing in Twitterland.
