Social Media and Sports

[bozclone]

I have loved sports all my life. As a kid, I read every inch of the the newspaper sports page daily. I loved watching baseball, football, basketball and other sports on TV. Most of my free time was spent playing some type of sport/game. For much of my life sports have been entertainment and a source of enjoyment.

Now with social media available to us all, we get to interact and see the opinions of others during our favorite sporting events. After watching Brock play last night and having watched our football team so far this season, I was thinking about the impact social media has on my viewing experience. What are your thoughts?

 

[CoachHines3]

the bickering and b*tching gets really, really annoying and I tend to try and avoid it all.

I enjoy it from a highlight standpoint or finding articles on sports websites I wouldn't normally find/see. I don't visit yahoo sports, the athletic, usa today, etc... every day and look at the articles. I follow a few reports from each of those sites and see the articles they write via social media.

 

[Trice]

There are plenty of threads on the downfall of Twitter, which we don't have to rehash here. But I will say that in its heyday, there was no better place to be for experiencing an event in real time with a community of like-minded people. The live-game CF threads are the closest thing but the interface doesn't quite compare.

Obviously there are pros and cons to that. The highs seem higher and the lows lower when you get everyone's thoughts instantaneously.

 

[bozclone]

the bickering and b*tching gets really, really annoying and I tend to try and avoid it all.

I enjoy it from a highlight standpoint or finding articles on sports websites I wouldn't normally find/see. I don't visit yahoo sports, the athletic, usa today, etc... every day and look at the articles. I follow a few reports from each of those sites and see the articles they write via social media.

I am right there with you. I was really looking forward to watching Brock play last night. What he has done is truly remarkable. I thought he played well after a slow start, but some of the comments on twitter (X) really had me questioning why I was even looking at social media.

 

[bozclone]

There are plenty of threads on the downfall of Twitter, which we don't have to rehash here. But I will say that in its heyday, there was no better place to be for experiencing an event in real time with a community of like-minded people. The live-game CF threads are the closest thing but the interface doesn't quite compare.

Obviously there are pros and cons to that. The highs seem higher and the lows lower when you get everyone's thoughts instantaneously.

I really enjoy Twitter for the most part. I probably spend most of the my time on Twitter and CF. When things are going well, it is fun most of the time. When things are not going well, it can be somewhat toxic.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Positives

• Lots of clips and highlights you may not have seen
• Alerts you to interesting things that are happening now
• A lot more sources for information and articles
• Can directly interact with some players and former players

Negatives

• Asshats melting down over everything
• Asshats can directly interact with some players and former players

 

[CoachHines3]

I am right there with you. I was really looking forward to watching Brock play last night. What he has done is truly remarkable. I thought he played well after a slow start, but some of the comments on twitter (X) really had me questioning why I was even looking at social media.

i noticed this too but generally if you look at the "top" posts rather than "latest" the content is much better.

 

[Cfinnerty16]

When I watch ISU sporting events I usually cycle from Twitter, CF, and Wide Right and Natty Lite's discord channel. Honestly, discord is much better for live game threads, wish CF had one but I understand they don't get money from it.

 

[Clonehomer]

I don’t really follow X, so social media to me is this site. I generally try to avoid this place during games. Maybe I’ll check in during a commercial break, but I hate myself after. I’ll check in after for post game discussion, but maybe wait some time after a loss. But I just don’t get the benefit from following every play on social media. Watch the game or don’t.

 

[Jer]

CF and Reddit are the only forms of "social media" I have ever or will ever use. The rest is nothing more than echo chambers, bullying, and toxicity - whether talking about sports, religion, politics, color of feces, etc.

 

[Trice]

I really enjoy Twitter for the most part. I probably spend most of the my time on Twitter and CF. When things are going well, it is fun most of the time. When things are not going well, it can be somewhat toxic.

Most of the negative things people experience on social media can be mitigated with better curation of your feed, and it seems like most either don't know how or just won't put in the effort to do it.

Set your default view so that your feed is made up of only people you follow, so your feed isn't served up by the algorithm, which is always going to pull you toward more high-engagement content like stupid clickbait, hot takes, and arguments.

Then starting muting or blocking stuff you don't like. There are tons of Hawkeye trolls for example, and I mute or block a lot just so they don't show up in my feed, either on their own or from Cyclone fans who choose to argue with them.

That keeps an enormous amount of garbage out of my timeline.

 

[bozclone]

Most of the negative things people experience on social media can be mitigated with better curation of your feed, and it seems like most either don't know how or just won't put in the effort to do it.

Set your default view so that your feed is made up of only people you follow, so your feed isn't served up by the algorithm, which is always going to pull you toward more high-engagement content like stupid clickbait, hot takes, and arguments.

Then starting muting or blocking stuff you don't like. There are tons of Hawkeye trolls for example, and I mute or block a lot just so they don't show up in my feed, either on their own or from Cyclone fans who choose to argue with them.

That keeps an enormous amount of garbage out of my timeline.

I try to keep my feed on "following" most of the time and often unfollow those people that bring negativity to my feed, but I sometimes jump to "for you" just to get more content. I probably need to increase the number of people I follow and do a better job of maintaining those followers.

 

[BoxsterCy]

I try to keep my feed on "following" most of the time and often unfollow those people that bring negativity to my feed, but I sometimes jump to "for you" just to get more content. I probably need to increase the number of people I follow and do a better job of maintaining those followers.

I do like to hit Twitter for sports highlights and follow a few sports guys/gals that are not just clickbait hot-takers. Don't like the bickering fans that only want to troll. I've blocked a few Cyclones (some popular) that act like it's an insult contest on the playground in junior high. Who cares if @JohnnyHawkSeed mocks ISU or if @CycloneButtHurt thinks the Big 10 west is weak?

I generally ignore the idiots but have been tempted into tossing a grenade into some replies, more on the political side when some politician posts a bold outright lie looking for affirmation from their followers. The sports trolls WANT the replies so I don't give them one.