Sports and Social Media: How It’s Changed the Way We View Sports These Days

Jul 3, 2013

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Jake Wixom

Get in the Game

Social media seems to have changed the way a lot of things are done and viewed. Marketing, for example, will never be the same. Neither will taking to friends—no one writes actual letters anymore, and some people have even stopped calling each other in favor of chatting on Facebook. Social media has even affected sports. The way some people view their favorite sports teams, athletes, and the industry itself has shifted thanks to social media. It’s easier to get information about games, look up schedules, and even get to know athletes.

We Can Share Our Love or Disappointment with Thousands

Before social media, sports fans often gathered in someone’s living room or in a sports bar to watch games. This allowed fans to share in the excitement or a win or console each other after a crushing defeat. But it was still a fairly small group watching the game together. Social media expands that group to thousands. You can rant about a bad call to everyone in your team’s Facebook group or get into arguments with opposing fans on Twitter. Social media puts us in contact with many more people than anything else.

We Have a Stronger Connection to Athletes

Thanks to social media, our favorite athletes are no longer just people we watch on television or at the stadium—they’re real people we can talk to. Many athletes and other celebrities have social media accounts and take the time to reply to messages sent from their fans. While they may not have time to reply to everything, the posts they make give us a bit of insight into them as people as well as professional athletes.

Smart Phones, Social Media, and Sports

One gag you see on television shows every now and then involves a man sitting with his family in church. The preacher is going on and on, and suddenly the man jumps up and shouts. Then it’s revealed that he has ear buds in and is listening to a sports game on a small radio. Thanks to social media, this gag is very outdated. Now instead of people trying to hide ear buds, they’re sneaking glances at their Twitter feed to see what the score is. While social media keeps us in contact with fellow fans, smart phones let us take that connection with us wherever we go.

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