Social Media and College AthleticsMay 13, 2104

Socialnomics 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxpa4dNVd3c

Social Media and College Athletics

• As a member of the CIAA, and ultimately the NCAA, your institutions are responsible for the actions of its representatives of athletic interests

• The NCAA definition of a representative includes, but is not limited to boosters, alumni, faculty, staff and fans

• NCAA violations – whether intentional or not – can jeopardize the eligibility of a student-athlete, a prospective student-athlete and/or compliance with the NCAA and CIAA rules and regulations

Social media is

included in

representative

actions!“Social media is like a gun.

Smart people will use it as a useful tool, not-so-smart people

will shoot themselves in the foot with it.”

- Missouri journalism professor

• How much time do you spend training S-As on social media use? Coaches?

• How much time do you spend monitoring?– Do you use monitoring software?

• Do you have a social media policy?

• Do you outline use of social media in the student athlete code of conduct?

Social Media and Athletics - Questions

Cosida Social Media Survey, 2013

Of the responding schools…• Over half (56%) do not offer social media training for student-athletes • A little less than six percent have teams that are not allowed to use

social media • The majority have some kind of social media monitoring in place for

student-athletes• Only 33 percent have a social media policy for student-athletes • The vast majority(77%) of schools do not offer social media training for

coaches• Over 90 percent of respondents do not use student-athletes’ Twitter

handles in releases • Over 50 percent have had to remove a social media post from a coach

or student-athlete in the last 12 months – 11 percent had done it 10 or more times.

(17% of schools taking the survey were DII)

• 78% of student-athletes are using Twitter, up from 72% one year ago

• 78% of student-athletes are using Instagram, up from 65% a year ago

• 94% are on Facebook, but 85% use it less than they did one year ago

• 85% have a Snapchat account, up from 53% last year• 17% have used social media to network for a job or internship• Twitter is the most popular public platform for student-athletes, but

also the platform where most have posted something inappropriate• 38% spend more than 1 hour per day on social media• 40% have had no social media education or training. This is down

from 51% last year

http://www.fieldhousemedia.net/blog/social-media-use-of-student-athletes-2014 - 500 responses

Social Media Use by Student Athletes: 2014 Survey Results…the iAthlete

A breakdown of where the student-athletes came from:• 64% DI• 13% DII• 9% DIII• 14% NAIA

The iAthlete

• Twitter:78% have a Twitter account35% check it 5 times or less per day without tweeting37% check it more than 10 times per day87% tweet 5 times or less per day76% have between 100 and 500 followers11% have more than 500 followers67% have a public account7% have shared personal info on Twitter18% have tweeted something inappropriate (drugs, alcohol, sexual, racial, profanity, etc.)6% have received hateful/critical tweets from fans, 72% of them responded

• Facebook:94% have Facebook85% use it less today than they did a year ago77% check it less than 5 times per day w/out posting99% post less than 5 times per day40% have between 100-500 friends on FB58% have more than 500 friends9% have posted something inappropriate (profanity, alcohol, drugs, sexual, racial, violence, etc.)91% utilize the privacy settings on Facebook

• Instagram:78% have an Instagram account63% have a private account36% check it between 5-10 times per day w/out posting32% check it more than 10 times per day98% post less than 5 times per day5% have posted something inappropriate (drugs, nudity, alcohol, racial, violence, etc.)

• Snapchat:85% have a Snapchat account44% send less than 5 snaps per day24% send more than 10 per day10% have sent an inappropriate snap (profanity, nudity, drugs, etc.)5% have sent snaps to a stranger49% have received snaps from a stranger

• “How the eff has the chinese trampoline guy not thrown up his fried rice doing all those flips in a row #10minutes” – academic all-star student-athlete (posted during the Olympics)

• "It's tough knowing that everything you do is watched pretty closely because I'm doing the same stuff I've always done. It's just now people actually care what I do.” – After Johnny Manziel posted a pic flashing cash in 2013

• Cardale Jones, a third-string quarterback at Ohio State University, tweeted "Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain't come to play SCHOOL classes are POINTLESS"

– Once media organizations noticed and started to write about the tweet, it was removed, as was the entire Twitter account of Jones. The university suspended Jones for one game as a result of the tweet.

Social Media – Player Gaffes

http://www.athleticbusiness.com/more-news/twitter-can-prove-toxic-when-players-fans-exchange.html

Inside Higher Ed - http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/10/08/ohio-state-quarterback-tweet-classes-pointless#ixzz31LSTEyD6

Social Media – The Bad

• “Twitter is essentially a 24/7 opposing student section.” - Tom Izzo• “Some guys can't handle the audacity that some fans have, because they

can say things, but they know we're not going to say anything back because we have something to lose and they don't.” - Dion Bailey, USC safety

• Student-athletes deal with critical tweets in one or more of the following ways:1. Ignoring it; 2. Using it as motivation; 3. Blocking users sending nasty tweets; or 4. Responding to critics or tweeting a general response about working harder (or

"subtweeting" – not directly responding to a Twitter user but responding to the subject matter in general).- Assistant professors Blair Browning, Baylor and Jimmy Sanderson, Clemson

• "Though hate mail has always been around, it was a lot harder to get it to people in the past. Now with the immediacy of Twitter, it's immediately in front of their eyeballs…. People spew some pretty vitriolic things to these players.“ – Blair Browning

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/other/2013/01/10/college-athletes-twitter-criticism-johnny-manziel-kentucky/1823959/ )

Social Media – The Bad Fans

• Educate instead of simply being watchdogs

• Meet with teams individually • Include tips and training in the

S-A code of conduct• Bring in outside help• Follow their S-As and look for

teachable moments– Deal with infractions on a

case-by-case basis

Social Media – The Answer

Jorge Araujo

Dos and Don’ts

1. Every day is a job interview. Dress/act like the job you want, not the job you have.

2. Twitter/social media is a telephone, not a megaphone.

3. Take pride in who/what you represent.4. Mom Rule - If you can’t say it front of

your mother (and coach), then don’t say it.

5. Use common sense – don’t post in an emotional state.

Cosida 2013 presentation

6. Don’t engage in Twitter arguments. No one wins.

7. Locker room talk should stay there.8. Thank your teammates and fans every

day.9. Think before you send - never criticize an

opposing team, referee, coach or teammate.

10.Have fun.

Dos and Don’ts

Social Media Reminders for S-As

http://www.athleticbusiness.com/corporate/blog-9-social-media-dos-and-don-ts-for-student-athletes.html

• Keep in mind1. Nothing is truly private…ever2. If you retweet (or share), you own it3. Personal branding: Every tweet, post, pic…reflects who you are

“Freedom of speech does not equal freedom from consequences,” - David Petroff, director of athletic communications at Edgewood College

• What to post1. Thank - fans, teammates and family2. Sportsmanship! Send positive messages about peers in other

sports or activities at school3. Share news and humor – it’s ok to have fun, join conversations

and share things of interest4. Engage in discussion with those you admire – it’s easier than

ever5. Live your life, don’t tweet your life.

Social Media Graph by Institution

Social Media Graph - Conference

Best and Worst Times to Post, Pin and Tweet

http://www.thehubcomms.com/infographic-the-best-and-worst-times-to-post-pin-and-tweet/article/344868/

Best Time

Peak Time

Worst Time

What’s your plan for

what’s next?

Who Cares?

“State.com released a brutally honest ad for its new app, which it hopes will serve as an online outlet for opinions. The millions of preloaded topics range from politics to music preferences, which are available for users to rate and comment on — sans social media. Those user opinions are then recorded and turned into distribution graphs.” - Mashablehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyWwX_VzIBY

ANALYTICS

Monthly Reporting

• Website stats are measured month to month or year over year• Provide social media insights and sentiment of conversations

– Most popular posts and tweets highlighted

• Media coverage is measured with number of placements and readership

• Proactive suggestions to improve results

Clip Report

• Track media mentions

• Provide visitors, readership and ad equivalency

• Connect media coverage to online traffic

About c21

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beverage, real estate, technology• Managed and marketing two NCAA Final Fours

– 2007 and 2013• Award-winning projects and campaigns

communications 21www.c21pr.com404.814.1330

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sgoldmacher@c21pr.com