Bringing social media into the physical world. Yes, it’s one of the social trends in the sports industry— hashtags on football fields, Twitter handles on the basketball courts and Twitter handles on jerseys.
But the truth is, you can’t slap social on everything and call it brilliant. When promoting social media at a sporting event it should enhance the game (not detract), serve a unique purpose and engage.
Let’s take a look at why I don’t like the idea of replacing names on jerseys with Twitter handles:
1. Enhance the game— not detract
Does replacing players’ names with their Twitter handles on jerseys enhance the game? I don’t think so. For those who don’t use Twitter, Twitter handles on jerseys could be especially irritating. If the Twitter handles don’t resemble the players’ names, then it could actually make it harder for fans to follow the game… especially if they aren’t familiar with the team. The last thing you want is for your social media promotion to become a distraction or irritation.
2. Serve a Unique Purpose
Replacing players’ names with their Twitter handles is no doubt unique, but there are other ways you can serve the purpose of promoting players’ Twitter handles without taking away an element that makes it easier for fans to follow the game— add the Twitter handles to the bios on the website, the game program, etc.
3. Engage
Social media is all about engagement. If you’re promoting social media at a sporting event, you want fans to go to the platform and engage right away. Fans can engage with the players post-game, but they aren’t going to be tweeting during the game when you have a captive audience. Promoting a game day hashtag or the team Twitter account at a game makes more sense because people can join the conversation about the game and engage right away. Instant gratification.
I love the idea of making social physical, but in my opinion, it doesn’t mean that you can slap a Twitter handle or hashtag on everything and call it a brilliant social media tactic.
What do you all think? Are Twitter handles on jerseys a do or a don’t?
