The New Era of #SocialMedia
Hashtag-by-hashtag, one social media site is changing how we communicate online. Its simplicity has opened doors not only for the public, but coaches and athletes.
In fact, that was approximately 140 characters. It is suitable, then, that Twitter is the focus of the relationship between collegiate athletics and student athletes.
Developed in 2006, Twitter was originally introduced as a service to share and discourse news. Over the last decade, however, it has evolved into a hybrid of social networking and online news. This real-time flexibility propels empowerment and societal success, whether online or in the physical world.
For that reason, student athletes capitalize on the endless possibilities social media has to offer. Too often, coaches and parents stress to avoid the distractions online. Yet, many students embrace sites like Twitter because they understand how to use it as a tool.
The ability to share personalized content gives a user a distinct voice to separate themselves from the crowd. In fact, Twitter averages roughly 328 million active users per month, an overwhelming number for an aspiring student athlete. Establishing a singularity is crucial for athletes with the hopes of being discovered and eventually recruited.
Three-star 2018 Wisconsin commit Jaylan Franklin (@JaylanFranklin_) fully utilized the opportunities within social media, praising how, “it is rewarding to be able to have such a powerful tool like social media in our hands.”
Using Twitter as a means to communicate with coaches across the country gave Franklin, a projected tight end, the opportunity to build one-on-one connections he could not do in person.
“I find it cool that a boy from New York who’s been playing football his whole life has no offers, but gets on social media and reaches out to coaches and showing them his talents could end up with 20-plus offers,” he said.
When a coach or casual user searches Franklin’s account, his tweets, replies, media and likes are available to analyze. This can be particularly effective for coaches, who can express their interest with direct messages or other users that can retweet Franklin’s recruiting media.
This hidden value behind Franklin’s commitment decision on Twitter is astounding. Through the power of social media, he was able to contact @gridirongraphic, an editing sport picture service, to go alongside a Big Ten commitment photo and heartfelt text to his supporters. It became evident to other coaches, players and family that Franklin became a future Badger on 6/12/17 at 6:01 PM.
Thus, Franklin’s commitment tweet was a reflection of his athletic dedication and ability to showcase his worth to college football teams. In particular, his tweet activity showcased how Twitter is an effective tool for student athletes to make themselves known. Franklin’s “COMMITTED” tweet activity is analyzed below:
Impressions (times people saw this Tweet on Twitter): 95,822
Total Engagements (times people interacted with this Tweet): 27,579
Media Engagements (number of clicks on your media counted across videos, vines, gifs and images): 17,075
Detail Expands (times people viewed the details about this tweet): 4,487
Profile Clicks (number of clicks on @handle or profile photo): 4,375
Likes (times people liked this Tweet): 1,030
Retweets (times people retweeted this tweet): 249
It is obvious Franklin reached a large audience after his post went live. Fortunately, he understands this comes with added risk for student athletes who possess a dominant presence online.
“Therefore, many of us [student athletes/recruits] who are interested in that [social media] choose to handle ourselves differently than non student athletes would,” he said. This distinction is evident in other social media spaces, where users seem unaware of possible employers and coaches observing online.
Thus, this great power and potential brings great responsibility. “We tend to be conservative on the type of responses we give to people, “Franklin notes. “We try not to say anything we know colleges wouldn’t like.”
In a similar fashion, fellow 2018 Wisconsin tailback commit Nakia Watson (@Nakia Watson04) make his pledge public via Twitter. While his commitment post totaled 144 retweets and 540 likes, Watson utilizes social media in ways similar to Franklin.
“I feel like student athletes use it for a different reason [versus non student athletes]," Watson said. “We like things, for example, if we see a friend that committed to a school, we would like and retweet it.”
Indeed, Watson stays true to his word. If one were to access his account, his timeline is brewing with retweets of fellow Wisconsin commitment posts, college offer announcements and personalized messages showcasing his interests. This level of thought and individualization doesn’t come without a purpose.
“What I find rewarding about it [social media] is that it helps publish not only who you are in a jersey, but also who you are as a person,” Franklin said.
And so, both commits mirrored creativity online, yet recognized their work ethic - not a constant supply of (insert fire emoj) tweets got them to this point of their journey.
To fully capture their individuality and awareness online, Franklin and Watson were asked to summarize their experience as a UW-Madison recruit in 140 characters or less. Needless to say, both responses were impressive:
Watson: “It is a huge blessing to say I’m going to UW. It was a great experience going up there and the vibe I caught from the people there made me feel welcomed.”
Franklin: “My experience as a Wisconsin athlete is different. I think one thing Wisconsin showed me was that they were different from everyone else. “
Although the two recruits offered snippets of their experiences with social media accounts, the impact Twitter has is distinct. Social media can be a powerful tool used to obtain recognition and communicate with others, as long as it is used properly. It has changed the way colleges communicate with recruits and vice-versa.
Thus, next time you consider the negatives of social media, think of the doors it opened for Franklin, Watson and the thousands of other recruits.
140 characters doesn’t seem like enough now, does it?