We Are Live!

This week was an exciting week for me at Fox 25 Sports. This week we launched our Facebook and Twitter pages. Before I was an intern Fox 25 Sports did not have a Facebook or Twitter page. I offered to start the pages because I feel that it is important, because Fox 25 Sports will be able to establish a fan base and be able to connect with the fans.

Something I noticed while interning is that there is a lot of work that makes up the 10 minutes or so you see on the news. I thought that having social media sites will show the fans what they do not normally see. I also think that having a social media sites will allows Fox 25 Sports to cover more stories that they cannot cover due to time constraints. This is very exciting for me because now, I have more responsibility to prove myself to the boys. 

When creating a social media page, it is important to get the word out about the page. We started by asking all of our friends and family to “Like” our page. By liking our page, we are hoping to get the word out about our page to establish a fan base. This began to be very exciting part of our day as we got more and more likes. The producer Chad, anchor Brendan and myself would scream out we go another like. The first night our Facebook page was up, we got 60 likes, which is a good start.

Our next step was to establish content. When establishing content I wanted to establish a voice.

Why is voice important? Well voice is important because I really want the social media sites to continue even when I am no longer interning at the studio. Establishing voice was not an easy task and I am finding out that I really do not yet know how to talk the talk when it comes to sports. This is a challenge for me because I would really like to sound intelligent when updating a Facebook status or a twitter update. In order to become a better sports writer, I decided that I am going to have to do my homework and read more sports articles, follow different sports stations on Twitter and Facebook, and figure out what type of voice I can develop.

Another struggle I have with running the social media is what I can post. I have read that most people are likely to look at pictures or a video, rather than read something; this means I have to be careful on what materials I use. I would not want to get the station in trouble for something I post. The pressure is on me, considering the other interns do not help out with the social media.

How are we getting followers?!

A way of getting Twitter followers is to do live tweeting. If you are not familiar with live tweeting, it is a way of tweeting while an event is occurring. So this week I took on live tweeting during the Patriots vs. Seahawks game, which ended up being more difficult than I first thought. Now live tweeting is not too difficult, it is basically reporting via the internet. However, live tweeting while logging he game, and watching the game can get pretty confusing. Not to mention figuring out what is trending (meaning what people are talking about) and how to speak sports! 

I did the best that I could, but I quickly learned that I had to proof read my tweets due to the amount of errors I made trying to tweet quickly. Something I should have learned by now with all the writing classes I have been taking. But you live and you learn, and you don’t make the same mistakes. You also take your time when conducting a tweet so you can get the hand of it. 

The next game the Patriots play will be a home game against the New York Jets, and since they are sending another intern to the game, I will be in the station logging the game and tweeting the game. If you are interested in my work check out the Fox 25 Sports Facebook page, and our Twitter. 

Next week I will be going into the Patriots locker room again, this time for practice and organizing a wall of tapes, not to mention I will me attempting to live tweet again, and continue my quest for followers. Talk to you guys next week!