Professional athletes react on social media to Ferguson decision

The Ferguson case could possibly be the most emotional grand jury decision in the year of 2014. The decision not to indicate police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown sent off a social media storm of reactions from even professional athletes.

Professional NBA and NFL players were not afraid to voice their opinion and reaction across their social media accounts.

LeBron James shared this photo to his Instagram account with the caption, “As a society how do we do better and stop things like this happening time after time!! I’m so sorry to these families. Violence is not the answer people. Retaliation isn’t the solution as well. #PrayersUpToTheFamilies #WeHaveToDoBetter”

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Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant, delivered the same message in this short tweet.

The system enables young black men to be killed behind the mask of law #Ferguson #tippingpoint #change

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 25, 2014

Even former Lakers’ star, Magic Johnson, tweeted his disappointment and call for change.

I am very disappointed with decision in the Mike Brown case in Ferguson, MO.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 25, 2014

We must work together to stop the unnecessary loss of young men of color. Justice was not served in Ferguson.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 25, 2014

NFL player, Adrain Peterson, offered his opinion based on his recent experience of being indicted on charges of negligent injury to a child.

The GRAND JURY DECIDED NOT TO INDICT ME TOO! But that changed a week LATER! MAYBE,BUT NOT LIKELY N THIS CASE #PUTyourTrustNGODnotINtheWORLD!

— Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) November 25, 2014

Professional tennis player, Serena Williams, added:

Wow. Just wow. Shameful. What will it take???

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) November 25, 2014

NHL player, Ian Cole called for peace in his tweet.

In all seriousness, everyone stay safe and peaceful tonight #STLTogether

— Ian Cole (@ICole28) November 25, 2014

It is great to see athletes calling for people to remain peaceful, despite the controversy and high emotions revolving around the decision. Their position of influence on younger generations is something even government officials don’t have, especially in a case like Ferguson.

And the last thing needed is more violence.

Vine video journey to 13th CCAA conference title

Twitter chat with PRSA Entertainment and Sports #J398 #SocialChat

On Nov. 5, 2014 I participated in a live Twitter chat with the Public Relations Society of America Entertainment and Sports or PRSA Ent. & Sports.

The Twitter chat featured guest, Gina Lehe, senior director of communications and brand management of the College Football Playoffs.

I began the Twitter chat late was only able to answer two of the PRSA Ent & Sports questions. However, the chat was still a rewarding experience. I learned about the day-to-day routine of a communication professional in the sports industry and their strategies of engagement during a live sporting event. This was one of my favorite Tweets from Lehe because it shows that if your serious about engaging with a professional they will respond and offer the opportunity to connect.

When I finally logged into Twitter I offered my insight and one of my answers actually received a favorite from the PRSA. I was hoping for a reply or retweet but that I had to settle for only a favorite.

However, this experience was great and it opened my eyes to a brand new and easy way of engaging with professionals. The greatest part was most of these professionals hold the positions I aspire to one day acquire.

Engaging in this chat helped me take a small step towards growing my presence in the professional world of my beat. At the end of the chat I gained three new professional followers and one of my Tweets was included in their Storify of the chat.

https://storify.com/Alyssa_Barnett_/communications-strategy-scoring-a-touchdown-with-y

Although not all my Tweets received engagement, I would consider this experience a great success for a young aspiring public relations professional like myself. I look forward to continuing to participate in Twitter chats held by the PRSA Entertainment and Sports. A schedule of future networking events can be found on their website, prsa.org.

#Hashtags a great and detrimental tool #J398

Hashtags are a popular and useful tool for social media marketers and users who love connect together.

There are times when the Hashtag strategy proves to be effective and unique however it can also result in something completely different then what was envisioned.

In August 2013 during the 50^th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, the Golf Channel decided to incorporate a social media strategy related to the speech.

The Golf Channel asked users to, “Tweet your ‘golf’ dream using the hashtag #DreamDay.”

This social media strategy proved to be harmful and disrespectful to the event as hundreds of users expressed their distaste via Twitter to the Golf Channel.

Social media is a weird world that companies need to take serious and think critically about before starting a Hashtag campaign that might end up connecting users to speak negative about your brand.

The social media gurus at the Golf Channel did not think very hard about this campaign and instead of achieving the marketing dream of free promotion on social media. They got hundreds of backlash tweets like these:

Foursquare, the location based social network #J398

Are you a fan of Twitter, Facebook and Yelp?

Then you will probably enjoy Foursquare’s unique platform of combining content sharing and location check-in.

Foursquare is a great location based social network game that allows users to check into locations, share what they are doing, leave tips and reviews about the location.

However, under the surface Foursquare is a fun and addicting game that lets you collect badges and become mayor of a specific location. Users earn badges by visiting locations at unique times and become mayor after checking into a location more times than previous users in a set amount of time. This helps bring the competitive fun nature out of Foursquare users.

Photo Credit to pivotdesigngroup.com

Here’s how to get started on Foursquare:

1. Create account with either your Facebook or e-mail.
2. Search for a place you might want to go to get food, entertainment, or shopping and head over there.
3. Check-in with the Foursquare app.
4. Leave a tip or review to earn points or badge.
5. Continue visiting your favorite places to become mayor or try other places to earn more badges.
6. Build up your follower list by following other users and inviting your Facebook friends.

Mobile app Vine, enhances sports watching experience #J398 #Mobile

The game winning shot, the devastating injury, the high-flying touchdown catch are the quick segments of sports story sports journalists and team executives are looking to deliver to fans. Vine, the six-second video-sharing app allows anyone to quickly record and share videos via Vine and Twitter.

Vine, opens the door for creative mobile communication between sports fans, journalists, and professional sports teams.

During the 2014 NBA playoffs a lucky fan sitting front row caught the amazing moment that Damian Lillard, player for the Portland Trailblazers, made a game winning shot to send the Trailblazers to the second round of the playoffs.

The Vine user, Thomas, allowed NBA fans across the globe to quickly see a spectacular highlight at an angle a television network could not have broadcast.

Vine, also offers organizations to get creative in their promotional efforts, like this quick Vine from the Phoenix Suns.

Or maybe a quick behind the scenes look at the NBA team, Los Angeles Lakers.

Whatever it maybe Vine can take fans and journalist into the sports world from a perspective outside of the television broadcast through a behind the scenes, or a silly Vine.

The witty mobile app has given sports organizations, journalist and fans a unique way to enhance the sports watching experience all through a mobile device.

Vans’ #LivingOffTheWall visuals show their punk roots

On March 16, 1966, in Anaheim, California, brothers Paul Van Doren and James Van Doren created the highly recognizable shoe company, Vans. Their company quickly gained popularity among the skateboarding scene and the 1970’s Los Angeles punk rock scene. The classic Vans look was every skateboarders and punk rockers go to shoe.

As the popularity of skateboarding grew so did the demand for Vans’ signature classic shoe. In the last decade Vans has become one of the biggest names in the skateboarding and surfing industry.

However, Vans has not forgotten about their punk rock roots and their social media campaign, #LivingOffTheWall, highlights how they continue to show love to the underground scene that first supported them.

The #LivingOffTheWall campaign features visuals of cultural rebellion, spiked colorful hair, piercings, tattoos, angry youths, graffiti art and loud aggressive fast music that relates to being punk rock or “off the wall.”

The company describes, “off the wall” as a “state of mind, thinking differently. Embracing creative self-expression. Choosing your own line on your board and in your life.”

Vans is using Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo, and their blog to spread these visuals and share their documentary series on the current East Los Angeles punk scene.

The documentary Backyard Struggle, by Angela Boatwright, follows three young individuals who describe their involvement and passion with the backyard punk rock scene. Nekro, one of the individuals tells his story of singing in a punk band that performs only in backyards around the East Los Angeles area.

Boatwright’s work is one of many documentaries that share the story of people, places and things that illustrate what the company calls, “commitment to originality.”

The #LivingOffTheWall campaign visual gives Vans a strong youthful personality different from its competitors. It makes them resemble the rebellious, loud, tattooed, but super cool storytelling friend you love to listen to, instead of the stereotypical corporation trying to sell you a new pair of shoes.

The humorous discovery I made on News Engagement Day

Logo taken from newsengagement.org

The first annual News Engagement day on Oct. 7^th brought my Social Media class together to create a site showcasing our blogs on lesser-known news outlets. The news outlets were each dedicated to five different beats including news, tech news, sports, life style, and entertainment.

Throughout the day we each shared our blogs through various social media channels including Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook.

This lead to my favorite discovery of the day, Sportspickle, a sports news site dedicated to showing the funny side of sports.

Sportspickle, “the sports humor and satire site,” has been giving sports fans a different view of sports stories since 2001. Logo taken from sportspickle.com

Fans of sports will definitely appreciate Sportspickle’s less dramatic and tense take on the current sports stories. Their writers share their sarcastic and humorous sports stories through blogs, videos, pictures, that cover all major sports leagues.

Without News Engagement day I don’t know if I would ever come across this awesome site.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication helped start a special thing for the journalism industry. It was an awing experience to log onto Twitter and interact with different users participating in News Engagement Day.

There were a lot of other cool specialized sites I discovered like, Consequence of Sound, that I’m sure will continue to grow in popularity thanks to days like this.

I hope AEJMC continues this tradition and maybe next year I can find another news site that brings as much humor as the Sportspickle.

Our Twitter Scavenger Hunt #J398

On Sept. 25 2014 Mark Polonskiy and I participated in a Twitter scavenger hunt around the Chico State campus. It was fun exploring our campus and speaking with Chico State students who helped us check items off our list. Here is our list of items and at the end we listed our three favorite tweets.

1. School Sprit!

2. I’m hungry!

3. Professors on the street

4. Student on the street

5. Academic Excellence

6. Scenic spot

7. Little-known fact

8. Fanatic fans

9. Extracurricular Extravaganza

10. Freestyle

Everyone did an awesome job! However it was these three tweets that stood out from the rest.

A day at Chico State’s men’s cross-country practice

The Chico State men’s cross-country meets at 2:30 p.m. under the track stadium bleachers for practice.

Chico State student Karsten Kaufmann has decided to meet with the team today to go on a run with “his boys.”

Kaufmann and the rest of the team listen to Coach Gary Towne’s instructions.

The team and Kaufmann begin their eight mile run.