I was glad I didn't order the fight, although ever since I was young I always found boxing to be one of the most exciting sports to watch, not only because the fight was short-lived but because everyone on my Timeline recounted the fight step by step.
Some people were extremely descriptive and it felt as if I was sitting in front of a television screen witnessing the fight with my own eyes.
This is not the first time a sporting event takes over both my Twitter timeline and facebook newsfeed. As someone who does not follow sports closely, I am actually extremely grateful for this because I can take part and become involved in the games vicariously through other people.
I have learned about breaking news such as Mariano Rivera recently breaking the save records with his No. 602 save, as well as the quick Ortiz knockout all through Twitter.
Twitter allows sports fans to express their thoughts while keeping everyone well informed, and is it in the process creating more fans?
I know it has affected me in a way, in that I automatically begin doing my own research to see if what I am reading is actually accurate and by doing so I am educating myself in an area that I otherwise would have ignored.
Thank you Twitter, and thank you to the sports lovers that I follow!
You're right - the best way to distinguish just how much Twitter has changed our media world is by thinking of news stories we learned about there first. For example, I learned of Michael Jackson's death on Twitter. And remember Balloon Boy, the fake tale about the boy who was supposedly flying around the Colorado sky in a weather balloon? I saw that on Twitter and turned on the TV in time to follow along with everyone else. If I hadn't been on Twitter, I would have learned about it after the fact, not in realtime. That's why Twitter is here to stay, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh because I, too, did not watch the Mayweather fight but, instead, followed it on Twitter. To me, it had the same effect.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the sharing/following aspect of Twitter, the search function is the most important on the internet, in my opinion. You cannot Google things in real-time. It takes time for Google to process things and have them come up in your search results. On Twitter, if you're hearing chatter about something but don't know exactly what the subject is, just search it. It will come up.
I agree with Professor Baumbach that Twitter is here to stay. While Facebook and other social media outlets were for socializing, Twitter has revolutionized the delivery of news itself. To me, if someone reports news an hour after I saw it first on Twitter, I can only think, "You're late, bro." That is how quick the news cycle has become, for better or worse.
I think Twitter is especially great for people who don't aggressively follow the news, be it sports or otherwise, because it allows people to stay up to date and not feel left out.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to sports tweets, I think it has made a bigger fan out of me than am otherwise; which is great. Admittedly, I'm not a huge football fan, but following tweets about the game on Sunday made me google a game story out of curiosity, and it made me care much more about a game that otherwise would have not sparked my interest.
Similarly, checking Twitter is a great way to keep up with a game when you cannot be in front of a tv or radio to watch it. How else would I have known what was going on at Yankee Stadium this weekend while I was at work? Thank you, my Twitter-obsessed friends, for giving me a play by play of a game I wished I could have watched.