Blog #3

In the third episode of the KSS 782 blog, we have been given the option of deciding our topic. In light of the recent NBA and NHL championships, and World Cup, I am going to focus on the social media, specifically Twitter, of each league and its respective teams. I will be looking at the methods and strategies used by accounts such as @NBA, @MiamiHEAT, @spurs, @NHL, @LAKings, @NYRangers, @FIFAWorldCup, and @ussoccer. In detail, I will be analyzing profiles, tweets/content, replies/interaction, and multimedia.

Profile - The profile of a Twitter handle is crucial to the success of an account. In detail, the profile includes such aspects as the account name, the profile picture, the cover picture, and the biography. Of the aforementioned Twitter handles, the best profile goes to @FIFAWorldCup. First, their handle is official of the event and its operators. Second, their profile picture features the World Cup logo, which signifies the official sense of the page. The greatest detail of their page is their cover photo, which is all encompassing. It features photos of fans, the trophy, and a stadium. This illustrates a full experience rather than just that of a futbol (soccer) game. Furthermore, their biography states, "Updates from Brazil provided by the Official Site of the 2014 FIFA World Cup." This biography notifies followers that this is the official feed of the World Cup. They also include a link to the website, which provides easy access to fans. Overall, they do a great job on all fronts. In other mentions, the @spurs and @LAKings do a great job with their cover photos, both after winning their respective championships. On top of this, the @spurs profile picture also features their recent championship accomplishment. Opposite, the @MiamiHEAT account could use improvements, most notably the fact that they do not have a cover photo. At this moment, the Miami Heat's top 3 (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) have all opted out of their contracts, which makes a fan-favorite cover photo difficult. However, they could feature a photo of another aspect of the team.

Tweets/Content - The entire makeup and being of Twitter is the tweets of its users. In consequence, t comes as no surprise that the tweets and content of an account can determine its success, popularity, and following. Of the accounts being examined, the top tweets/content goes to @ussoccer. The @ussoccer account features hashtags (#) or mentions (@) in nearly every single tweet, a significant success factor in a Twitter account. For example, at the current moment, @ussoccer most recent tweet (link) states, ".@ishodwair reppin' the #USA jersey at the Street League @NikeSB World Tour in Chicago. Tune to @foxsports1 at 7 ET!" This tweet features a wide variety of quality information. First, instead of simply stating Ishod Wair's name, they mention him, allowing fans access to his account and tweets. Second, instead of simply referring to the jersey he is wearing, they feature the #USA hashtag, which allows the respective tweet to show up in all #USA searches. Furthermore, in similar fashion to mentioning Ishod, they mention the Nike Skateboarding account, allowing fans access. Finally, they call for action by telling fans they can tune in to the event to watch Ishod on Fox Sports 1 (again, mentioning the account) at 7:00pm ET. Overall, all of their tweets feature similar aspects. In reference to their futbol tweets, they feature team hashtags, a World Cup feature of Twitter that allows shows the country's flags. They also have created #USMNT, #AreYouReady, and #1T1N hashtag campaigns to involve all USA fans. These factors help to create quality posts that allow searchable, interactive tweets.

 Replies/Interaction - One of the greatest features of Twitter, and what really sets it apart from other social media channels, is the ability to reply and interact with other users. For a team, this is a great tool to utilize in order to interact with fans and create a more personal relationship. When a team or league builds their social media image, they must decide whether this is an aspect they want to create. For some, such as the @NBA and @NHL, you are unlikely to find any replies, unless the league has an athlete do a "takeover," where they control the account and interact with fans. For others, they want to build that relationship and they incorporate it in their strategy. The @LAKings are arguably the best Twitter in sports to do this (just ask @darrenrovell: link). Not only do the @LAKings constantly interact with fans (link), but they go about it in a humorous way; they build on relate-able posts (link). As Darren Rovell points out, this is key to successful interaction (link). To add a little comic rivalry to the Stanley Cup, following the LA Kings' win to reach the championship, the @LAKings tweeted, "Cruizin' to the airport like [Photo from Home Alone]" (link) to illustrate their flight to NY. In response, the @NYRangers tweeted in response, "@LAKings image from "Lost In New York." #NYRCupFinal" (link). These relate-able, humorous interactions are what create a personal relationship with fans that creates appeal in a team.

Multimedia - A significant part of Twitter is the ability to post photos, videos, vines, and gifs. These elements add another dimension to tweets that allow users to view even more than just the text of a tweet. In this analysis, the winner of best multimedia use goes to @NBA. However, there were a number of excellent multimedia users, including the @spurs, @NYRangers, and @ussoccer. The @NBA does an excellent job with their use of multimedia through the constant use of photos and video. For video, the majority of their posts involve YouTube videos where you can get inside looks at athletes and NBA material. On top of this, they feature Vine videos where appropriate (6 second maximum). Furthermore, they feature a wide variety of photos in their posts. These photos are crucial to posts because they add an extra element of interaction. For example, in the recent NBA draft, @NBA got exclusive photos to popular draft pics, along with their signatures on the photos. These photos help fans to connect to the athletes and their welcome to the NBA. @NBA also does a great job of involving multimedia in "boring" posts, such as stats or quotes. For example, with the 19th pick of the draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Gary Harris. Rather than simply tweeting the pic, the NBA featured a photo of Gary Harris along with  facts, such as his college, hometown, position, and wingspan. This adds an element of interest to a tweet that could have been considered lackluster. One account that could use improvement in multimedia is the @MiamiHEAT. While they do a great job of involving the multimedia, they force fans to search the multimedia to get to what they want to see. For example, in a recent tweet welcoming Shabazz Napier to the team, the Heat tweeted, "#HEATNation - join us in welcoming @ShabazzNapier to your @MiamiHEAT! http://instagram.com/p/pvEcGUEMl-/" (link). By posting the instagram link, instead of the actual photo, fans are forced to make an extra click to what they want to see. While this could force fans to go to the Heat's Instagram page, they could instead post the photo and include the link to their Instagram account. Without the photo in the tweet, fans bypass the tweet without wanting to click on the link.

These four elements make up crucial aspects of a successful Twitter account. Each element differs based on the strategy of the respective account, as illustrated in "Replies/Interaction." Overall, based on the set forth criteria, the best Twitter account of those analyzed goes to the @LAKings.

Blog #2

For the second blog of KSS 782, I will be evaluating the Royal Challengers (http://www.royalchallengers.com), a cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka that plays in the Indian Premier League. In this evaluation, I will consider the ease of accessibility, the ease of navigation, the use of interactivity, the use of video, and the quality of content.

First, accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Before even accessing the website, I Google'd "Royal Challengers," to which the first link was the website, the second their Wiki page, the third the league's page for the team, the fourth their Facebook, the fifth their Twitter, and the sixth section of the "Times of India" newspaper. The website, along with their affiliations, were easily accessible from an initial standpoint of accessing the team information. The website itself was also easily accessible. Although it can be overlooked, a URL is significantly important to accessibility. The Royal Challengers made their URL simple and stand (which is good), by having their URL as www.royalchallengers.com. It eliminates confusion in their finding. While I don't know a lot about cricket, I found their website to be easily accessible to what I would assume are the most important parts of the game. The initial home, landing page featured multiple articles and columns that focused on games, stats, awards, and miscellaneous information. On top of that, it was easy to move around the pages cleanly.

My first glance of the website focused on the five top tabs: "Team," "IPL 2014," "News," "Fan Club," and "RCB Multimedia." These five tabs encompass the majority of what any fan would be visiting the website for. The first includes all information relating to the team, the second relating to the league, the third being all team news, the fourth revolving around the fan, and the fifth featuring multimedia, including photos, videos, and available downloads. The ease of navigation was simple and clean, as it should be. As aforementioned, the top tabs incorporate the majority of what someone is navigating for. The front page, as also discussed, features the most important columns, accolades, and recaps. The page is also fit to the screen of the user, which makes navigation easier in terms of scrolling up and down, and not having to scroll left and right. The team also utilized the entire page. Both sides, outside of the middle features, included logos, photos, columns, hashtags, apps, and social media links. Overall, I thought the website did an excellent job at navigation.

The third critique involves use of interactivity. Again, I thought the website did an excellent job in this aspect; they were extremely interactive with their fan base. In a few examples, one top link includes, "Catch the pulse and feel every beat of Team RCB" for a radio link. This quote pulls the audience in to the team to make them feel apart of something. Another link is to that of the team's statistics. Normally, this is a neutral, uneventful page. However, the website features the quote of, "Get an in-depth look at your favourite RCBian's performance." This quote, again, interacts the fan in to feeling they are connected, especially with the involvement of the word "favourite." Furthermore, the team has created a uniform hashtag of #SeizeTheDay for the team and its moments. This interactivity allows fans to tweet and capture moments all while involving the fan base with the hashtag. Lastly, the use of the "Fan Club" tab allows fans access to such interactivity options as contests, rewards, debates, forums, and blogs. All of these options allow the fans to connect with the team and other fans in order to share their opinions and thoughts. These options allow the fans to feel interconnected with the team.

Fourth, I think an adequate job of the video. I believe this is the area where the website, in relation to the other four critiques, allows the most room for improvement. The websites main use of video is featured in the "RCB Multimedia" tab, under "Videos." This page features hundreds of videos of interviews, games, and practices. While the website does an excellent job within this page, I think they could do a better job of the use of video on the front page or in the redirection to that "Videos" page. The only use of video we see on the front page is a picture of an app with a still-shot of a video playing in the app. The team could, for example, place videos on the homepage, which would show fans that they are included on the website. Even a link next to the videos of "See More Videos Here" could link fans to the "Videos" page where hundreds of other videos reside. While the website does an adequate job of the use of video, there is room for improvement.

Finally, the fifth aspect of this evaluation is quality of content. I thought the website did a great job in this aspect. Every tap, link, column, or post seemed well thought out in its process. Each tap does a good job at including quality content in its links. The homepage also features a wide variety of quality content, ranging from social media links to columns to recaps to fan interaction. Overall, as described throughout the other aspects of this evaluation, the website does a good job at accessibility, navigation, and interactivity in quality posts.

In summary, the Royal Challengers have an excellent, all encompassing website. It features the most important aspects that a cricket website is expected to have. It allows fans to easily and quickly find what they are searching for. It also includes quality links, posts, and content that are meaningful to a fan. As described, the main area of improvement is the opportunity for more video linkage on the home page. The website does a great job of photos of the homepage; they should simply swap a few of these photos out with videos.