Using social media to keep up with athletes

While your second sentence is true, your first is incredibly condescending. Some of us are ambitious and intend to rise in this sad-sack business. We use the tools at our disposal so maybe, just maybe, we can reach your level of professional greatness.

To your second point, quoting a high school athlete's Facebook or Twitter page is weak. Following and tracking, however, is becoming a necessity. And as others have said, confirming through phone calls or in-person interviews is a must.

 

Ha. Well said.

Stitch, we definitely aren't limiting ourselves to just following players' social media sites to get our news. We're out there every day at practices, games, whatever talking with players and coaches to get our news. But, like today, stuff like that just happens to slip through the cracks.

As for following up with coaches and players, how the hell do you approach that? "Hey, I was on your/your player's Twitter/Facebook/(insert other social media site here) and saw such and such info. What's that all about?" Or maybe something more along the lines of "Hey, I got this tip the other day...." In all honesty, I think I'd feel better going with the latter, especially if it involved a volleyball or softball player. No way I could get myself to go with the first and not feel like I was coming off as a total creeper. College, MAYBE. High school, no way in hell.

I don't know what it is about it all, but it just feels so weird to me to run a story based on a tweet or Facebook post. But, I guess like you said RH, worst case is write a brief, leave some room for error and continue with follow-ups. Then again, couldn't something like that be saved for the Web, maybe a blog post, then, once more info is tracked down, it could be a story to run in the paper.

 

It is condescending, but there is truth to it. You can be a great reporter even if you don't trat a high school star like a college player. The best prep reporters understand that difference, yet still crank out great stuff.

 

Stitch, why wouldn't you monitor athletes' Twitter/Facebook pages? I'm not saying rely solely on that, but seems badly dated to not be checking those for tips.

 

High school athletes use Facebook in the same manner as the fast majority of other high school kids. I really don't need to read the posts high schoolers make on a daily basis, and it might negatively influence coverage if a kid posts something stupid.

 

Just go on treating a 17-year-old the same as a MLB club PR rep.

 

Oh, I don't disagree with the weirdness of writing based off a social media post. Again, the caveat is to judge each circumstance individually. If it's a blue-chip D-I football prospect, that's one thing. A juco soccer prospect, that's another. (No knock against soccer ... just an example.) A blanket prohibition doesn't always make sense. Use your best journalistic judgment.

The Web, of course, is the best vehicle to get news like this out there and update as needed. My "worst-case scenario" was including a late-night, file-for-print deadline because, if it's a high-profile prospect, you'd certainly want something in the next day's paper, even if you have to hedge it a bit.

 

That's where it gets really iffy with me. After all, these kids are just in high school with no real sense that what they say can affect them. As far as something like a player transferring or news that he's out for a season because of a broken leg I'd feel more comfortable running; a post about a player that go so drunk at a party that he threw up everywhere and was arrested I'd feel a lot less comfortable. So where's the line drawn? Is it anything goes or pick and choose your battles? For me, I'll go with No. 2. For those that choose the former, how has it worked out for you? (I'm not asking that in a condescending way; I'm legitimately interested.)

 

It's a good way of staying connected to what's going on, but you need to make a follow up message or phone call to confirm what is posted before putting it in print.

 

Yeah, I would agree. Get news tips any way you can, but always confirm them before publishing. If someone says "I'm going to commit to State U", I would always try to confirm it.

I suspect there is a lot of ways to hijack accounts like that, so what you read may or may not be legit.

 

yeah, when the hottie from the volleyball team posts spring break pics, it's only OK to look at them four or five times, tops