Web for Mass Communication- English-Final Project

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NCAA Men’s College Basketball Teams And Players SHOULD Use Social Media Caroline Long

Transcript of Web for Mass Communication- English-Final Project

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NCAA Men’s College Basketball Teams And Players SHOULD Use

Social MediaCaroline Long

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What will be discussed today:Reasons why NCAA men’s college

basketball teams should use social media

Positives from using social media

Positives with NCAA men’s college basketball players using social media

By adhering to team social media policies

Negatives with NCAA men’s college basketball players using social media

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Why should NCAA men’s basketball teams use Social Media?1. To have a strong media

presence2. To recruit3. To build their social media fan

base to further engagement with their fans

4. To go visual

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1.To have a strong media presenceTop 10 NCAA men’s basketball

teams

Active on several social platforms

Targeting young consumers, alumni and basketball fans

Social presences are focused more on consumer-oriented networks: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter

We see this same trend with business-to-consumer organizations

Need to be active to reach their audience

Villanova, after a week, had 285 aggregate social posts across six networks

217 tweets, 32 Facebook posts, 4 YouTube posts, and 32 Instagram posts

Number one in this category

Villanova has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 35 times, the 8th highest total in NCAA history (ESPN)

Kansas has the most followers across the top 6 social networks

638,000 combined followers. Duke and Kentucky also lead

These three teams have been performance leaders on the court for decades

Dawson, 2015

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Visuals of the top 10 NCAA men’s basketball team social media presence

Dawson, 2015

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2. To recruitCoaches are using social media to check on

possible recruits

Most kids in high school are active on social media and it is a perfect place for coaches to check their activity

Social media and NCAA recruiting go hand-in-hand

Mike Elder, Avon football coach said, “What you put out there is your brand and how you want to be perceived. Recruiters want to see what kind of person you are because they’re making a major investment in you. If you’re putting the wrong things out there, I can promise you, that recruiting will end.”

Social media shows a lot about an individual's character, that is why potential schools keep up with their recruits on social media sites

Patsko, 2015

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Example of a coach using Twitter to recruitAthlete, Justice Alexander, has Tweeted more than 1,100 times in just a year's time

He told the public “College coaches were the main reason I got on Twitter. They would say, ‘Follow me on Twitter.’ I said, ‘I don’t have Twitter.’ They’d say, ‘Get on there so you can DM me questions.’”

He used Twitter to post a picture of himself with Michigan State football recruits standing with coach Mark Dantonio

Social media has been used by recruits to

Promote highlight videos to

Contact coaches

Announce verbal commitments

The NCAA limits phone calls and text messages between coaches and players

Coaches get unlimited social media contact with potential recruits beginning after Sept. 1 of the recruit’s junior year.

Patsko, 2015

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Example of recruit making a mistakeNew Hampshire HS Basketball Player of the Year Loses

Award After Obscene TweetThis player was getting recruited by top

notch schools and he lost this award and recruitment from schools

“Pembroke Academy (Pembroke, N.H.) Pat Welch was named the Division II Player of the Year earlier this month, but he was recently stripped of the title after his team won the NHIAA Division II boys' basketball state title because of an obscene tweet (Newport).”

The tweet, which contained profanity, was directed at the team he had just defeated

Newport, 2014

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3. To build their social media fanbaseFirst, teams need to have one main

name and logo for all their social networks

Easier for users to find

Need to use the same description and bio language

Use consistent hashtagsExample:

Duke men’s basketball team uses three different profile names and descriptions

1. Duke MBB2. Duke Basketball3. Duke Blue Planet

○ This makes it harder for users to find one credible source

Keep it simple

Building a relationship with your fanbase is very important

“Relationship marketing is a way to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met (Watkins, 2014).”

On the subject of using social media, Indiana athletic department’s social media coordinator, Shana Daniels, said one of the main reasons for the use is to build a relationship with the fans (Talty, 2011)

More than 800 million people are on Facebook and 300 million on Twitter.

Athletic departments need to make sense of these social networks

Watkins, 2014; Dawson, 2015; Talty, 2011

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“The Five Best College Basketball Teams Utilizing Twitter “The most successful universities are leading the way in social media

They are “models” for other teams to look up to in order to gain more fans, recruits and attention

Their use has changed normal fans into DIEHARD fansHere are the 5 NCAA men’s basketball teams who are successful on social media

networks:

The Five Best College Basketball Teams Utilizing Twitter - SportTechie, 2014

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The 5 Most Successful NCAA Men’s Basketball Teams On Social Media1. North Carolina Tar Heels - In 2014, they had the number one Twitter

account in the NCAA with over 140,000 followers. Today, they have over 260,000 followers on Twitter.

2. Akron Zips- Wanted to replace player’s last names on their jerseys with individual Twitter handles in an attempt to expand their fan base. Failed but gained more fans.

3. Duke Blue Devils- Second largest Twitter following. Used Google+ to video chat with fans and answer their questions. In 2013, Duke players teamed up with players on the 2010 National Championship Team to create the DBP Hangout (#DBPHangout). The Hangout was streamed live on Duke’s YouTube page, which expanded their fan base.

4. Kentucky Wildcats- Most historic and successful basketball programs in the country. Their coach has over 1.25 million followers. They first launched hype videos on Instagram to further excite their fans.

5. Michigan Wolverines- Has one of the largest Twitter accounts in college basketball. They connect with fans directly more than other teams. The Five Best College Basketball Teams Utilizing Twitter -

SportTechie, 2014

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Visual On Facebook Fan Pages By States

Yancey

Facebook created a map split up county by county, which showed the users’ likes on team’s Facebook fan pages.

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4. To go visualTeams need to use captivating

pictures, images and videos to engage with their audience

With the use of visuals, teams will benefit the ease of engagement and instantaneous connection between fans and their favorite teams

Can lead fans to build a greater loyalty to a certain team

Social media is no longer just a place to connect with friends and family

Place for doing business

Sport organizations should integrate into it

Hipke and Hachtmann, 2014; Thompson et al., 2014

A website is no longer enough

Need to meet people where they are now

That is visual

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Continue...The Carolina Tar Heels used

a snip of this video and put it on their Instagram page

Made fans who did not make it to the event feel included

Let fans get to know the team a little better

Showed UNC cares about their fans by sharing that moment with them

Youtube

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Positives with NCAA men’s college basketball players using social media1. To have a POSITIVE

IMPACT on society2. To receive POSITIVE

ATTENTION

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1.To have a POSITIVE impact on societyFirst, many colleges now have social media policies put in place for

their athletes to adhere to and they strictly follow them

Most of these policies restrict what student-athletes can say online

First Amendment rights

At public universities the policies could be infringing on students' rights

Not legally able to restrict speech, online or otherwise

Private universities are not bound by the First Amendment protections

These universities are not saying , “Don't have Twitter. Don't have Facebook. Don't do Instagram."

They just warn their athletes to “Be responsible”

Elliot, 2014

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Example of social media policyUGA men’s basketball social networking

policy:

Facebook and similar sites: post nothing that would offend your family, team, or coach, make private;

Anything you write can and will be quoted

Twitter is only allowed with a signed agreement with Coach Fox and can be disallowed at any time

Link to a digital copy of this policy:https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/

1087509-uga-teams.html#document/p2/a150061

University of Georgia team policies

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Team policies during March MadnessMichigan State University, coached by Tom Izzo, and the University of Kentucky, coached

by Jon Calipari, have been dominating forces in men’s college basketball for years

Izzo bans his players from posting to their social media accounts during the season, which includes March Madness

Calipari, though, embraces social media as “A way to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at college basketball life”

Small businesses face this choice when determining their policies about employee social media use

Eric Vidal, director of product marketing, said, "There's no right or wrong answer for how present a business or team should be on social media. Rather, it's about finding a happy medium that works for your company and its goals, something both of these teams have done.”

Fallon, 2014

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Team policies during March Madness Continue… Vidal shared 3 lessons teams can take away based on his observations of

NCAA social media strategies:

Establish guidelines. Take the time to put guidelines in place about what is acceptable to post and what's not.

Be conversational and authentic. March Madness is full of emotion, and players and coaches aren't afraid to show this passion, either on the court or off it, via their social media accounts. This aspect of the game helps connect the players to their fans.

Educate your team about your messaging strategies. In basketball, if the whole team isn't on board with a play, it's not going to work. Need everyone on board.

Here is the link to check out his advice to business’:http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6167-march-madness-social-

media-lessons.html Fallon, 2014

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Continue… to have a POSITIVE impact on societyBuilds Relationships

Must be high levels of social media involvement for relationship building to be effective

Twitter's two-way dialogic capabilities on the internet and its open-nature on the site allows Twitter to be effective for building relationships

The structural features of social media allow for such interactions to take place in an online environment

Personal Branding

The athlete chooses how they want to be represented

Send the right message out to the public

Positive informationThere are many examples of what

not to do, but there are positive examples of how athletes can use social media

Watkins, 2014; Gaoi, 2013

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Example: POSITIVE impact on society Boston College basketball team signs

9-year-old cancer patient

Boston College men’s basketball team tweeted out to their followers that they signed a new member to their team

9-year-old Quinn Amsler, diagnosed with sarcoma was undergoing physical therapy and chemotherapy

Quinn is an official member of the Boston College men’s basketball team

○ Able to spend the season with players and coaches

Positive example on how the team and its members used social media in a positive way

Boston College, 2015

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2. To receive POSITIVE ATTENTIONThe media usually focuses on athlete’s

negative uses on social media, but those negative uses can also be used for positive uses to gain attention

Social media has changed the traditional way athletes interact

They can respond to tweets and comments

Their fans feel closer to them

Social Media can help athletes meet needs such as:

Entertainment

Information gathering

Duke fans showing some love to Jahlil Okafor who actively used and uses social media to interact with fans.

Yuan and Shuhua, 2015

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Continue… To receive POSITIVE ATTENTION Sports fans said they use social media

not only for fandom and to find information, they use it for direct communication with the players and teams

Sometimes this communication is negative from fans and the athletes have to be disciplined

Can’t act in the moment and reply in a rude manner because that will hurt their reputation

Even though these are NBA players in this video, these type of tweets come in by the thousands to college players, especially if they lost a game

Excuse some of the language, but when players receive harsh tweets like these and they reply in a positive manner, they gain a lot of respect

Yuan and Shuhua, 2015

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The importance of social media for athletesCCR CEO Shane Howard talks about the importance of social media

for athletes

Youtube

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Continue… To receive POSITIVE ATTENTION Some universities policies have

rules that do not allow their athletes to Tweet until a certain period time

Could be after the season is over

Could be after a game

Not all schools have the same rules

The Carolina Tar Heels use their social media before or after games

The point guard, Marcus Paige, uses his tweets to thank, interact with fans and communicate with his team

Receives positive attention from these tweets

Stanley, 2014

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There are negatives to NCAA men’s college basketball players using social media

1.Social media can damage the athlete’s reputation and sometimes get them in trouble with the school or a higher authority

2.An athlete’s mistake on social media can give their university a bad name in the public's eyes

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1. Social media can damage an athlete’s reputation

Kansas State dismissed more than one basketball player for causing stir on twitter. Malek Harris and Marcus Foster were two of those players. Kansas State said they have very high standards for their players and if they do not live up to those expectations they will be dismissed. After this news, some others began to transfer

The only player left from the freshman class was Wesley Iwundu, and he caused a stir on Twitter as well by saying:

“Yea it's over ... I'm gone”

That tweet was deleted later in the morning and he stayed around

Although Harris got kicked off the team, he was still able to use Twitter to thank his fans

Corbitt, 2015

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Players kicked off their teams for tweetsRedshirt freshman, DJ Gardner, tweeted

his displeasure about Mississippi State basketball bureaucracy then he was kicked off the team

One tweet led to the fall of his basketball career at the university

Thomas de Thaey's played basketball for NC State and he was not happy with his playing time so he went on a Twitter rampage about his coach and was kicked off

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2. Social media can damage a university's reputation When these players mess up,

it makes their school look bad as well

Their actions on social media reflect directly on the school

Their actions on social media also reflect not only on themselves, but their whole team and coaching staff

HAVE to be careful what they post

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Former Kentucky men’s basketball player sends risky tweet

Former Wildcat sends out a tweet once he is in the NBA that made the University of Kentucky look bad

People can make assumptions that Kentucky players get special treatment

His tweet could have gotten himself in trouble and the university

This tweet was seen by thousands of people

Athlete’s need to be careful what they tweet to the public

Sarkisova and Parham, 2013

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Works CitedBoston College basketball team signs 9-year-old cancer patient. (2015, October 10). Kirotv

Corbitt, K. (2015, April 17). K-State basketball's Malek Harris dismissed; Wesley Iwundu causes

stir on Twitter.

Dawson, M. (2015, March 23). 6 social media lessons from NCAA basketball's top teams.

Elliot, D. (2014, March 27). College basketball social media policy: Just one girlfriend, "not two or three"

Fallon, N. (2014, April 1). Tweeting to Win: 3 March Madness Social Media Lessons.

Gaoi, M. (2013, October). Blog: 9 Social Media Dos and Don'ts for Student-Athletes - Athletic Business.

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Works CitedHipke, M., & Hachtmann, F. (2014). Game Changer: A Case Study of Social-Media Strategy in Big Ten

Athletic Departments. International Journal Of Sport Communication.

Newport, K. (2014, March 28). HS Player Loses Award After Tweet.

Patsko, S. (2015, February 3). How social media behavior of high school athletes can negatively impact

NCAA recruiting.

Patsko, S. (2015, February 2). How social media, NCAA recruiting go hand-in-hand, from first contact

through National Signing Day 2015

Sarkisova, G., & Parham, J. (2013, March 19). 15 College Athletes Who Got in Trouble Using Twitter -

Thomas de Thaey.

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Works Cited Stanley, Clayton V., (2014) Fans use of Twitter in College Athletics. Sport Management Undergraduate.

Paper 12.

Talty, J. (2011, December 15). How Social Media Affects College Athletics.

The Five Best College Basketball Teams Utilizing Twitter - SportTechie. (2014, January 22).

Thompson, A., Martin, A. J., Gee, S., & Eagleman, A. N. (2014). Examining the Development of a Social

Media Strategy for a National Sport Organisation. Journal Of Applied Sport Management

University of Georgia team policies. (n.d.).

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Works Cited Watkins, B. (2014, January). Building Brand Relationships Online And Offline: A Comparison Of Social

Media And Marketplace Characteristics. American Academy of Advertising. Conference. Proceedings

(Online) (p. 71). American Academy of Advertising.

Yancey, B. (n.d.). How the NCAA Tournament creates March Madness on social media.

Yuan, W., & Shuhua, Z. (2015). How Do Sports Organizations Use Social Media to Build Relationships? A

Content Analysis of NBA Clubs' Twitter Use. International Journal Of Sport Communication, 8(2), 133-148.