Twitter: Legitimizer of the Blogosphere

While many use Twitter as a means for sharing the flavor of coffee they enjoy each morning, or ranting about the tedious acts of daily living, its use for news reporting, and sports news in particular, has revolutionized sports journalism, as well as blogging. Fans and bloggers take to Twitter to not only discuss the latest in sports news, but oftentimes send large sums of tweets during sporting events themselves, which allows Twitter to serve as a supplement for the analysis, play-by-play and sideline reporting that television audiences take in. At a moment’s notice, sports reporters update their Twitter feeds with immediate quotes from athletic personnel, injury updates and commentary. This continuous stream of information not only creates an enhanced method of communication, but enables interaction and allows for the formation of a social media following, which cohesively adds to the legitimacy of the sports blogging community. Despite the lack of a prerequisite expertise when creating a sports blog, Twitter is able to legitimize blogs by providing access to experts in the field, sources for timely content and allowing for the formation of an augmented readership through Twitter as a means of social media.

For some journalists, especially experts who tend to focus on a particular field, Twitter offers a medium for which amateur bloggers, journalism students, and fans alike can interact with the experts in the field by asking questions and receiving feedback. Ray Murray, a Professor of Journalism at Oklahoma State, claims that both blogs and Twitter have pushed back at journalism, forcing a change of direction in journalism from more of a print emphasis, to the digital realm. He argues that, “blogging, as well as participating in social media sites like Twitter, has also created greater interaction between reporters and their audience. As a result, websites are allowing newspapers to provide more content beyond the traditional daily paper” (65-66). In addition to newspapers molding themselves to the a blog format, some journalists like Rich Hammond have completely left the world of mainstream journalism in favor of the blog and Twitter. Hammond is the official blogger and insider of the Los Angeles Kings, as the hockey club has taken the approach that blogs are the way fans can access formal news the quickest. Hammond frequently posts updates from team practices and includes daily quotes, as the popularity of the site has soared, often gaining well over 500 comments for a single post. Among other new forms of content, Twitter conversation and live chatting is being used by some of the biggest journalists in sports. Many experts such as Peter King from Sports Illustrated and Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus, take questions on Twitter nearly all day long, in addition to the work they do to break stories and provide commentary and analysis. Along with the trend of live chats, the communication between journalists, bloggers and fans provides a comprehensive and more knowledgeable basis for both bloggers and fans alike, in addition to journalists directly influencing the content of blogs. For Lindsay Jones however, a Denver Broncos beat writer for the Denver Post, the interaction between her and her Twitter followers is more of a duality of influence: “The most amazing effect of social media is being connected directly with readers unlike what was ever possible before. Having a direct line to the fans often changes the tenor of my reporting since what they write clues me in to what they care about and want to read” (58). The notion that readers, which by default includes bloggers, have the collective ability to alter the way at which beat writers report goes a long way in asserting the legitimacy of the sports blogosphere.

While fans become more informed on the “insider” information, the information itself becomes more accessible when it is amplified through blogs. Just as quickly as a journalist can tweet about the lines of a certain hockey team, a tweet can be sent right back asking the rationale for any tweaks or concerns, and blog post can be written as a rebuttal for a coach’s decision making. For bloggers, this brings up a whole new caveat to Twitter, as the speed at which bloggers work allows the legitimization of blogs as an alternative to mainstream sports journalism due to the speed at which they work. Journalist Dave Kindred shadowed Wally Matthews, who covers the New York Yankees as a beat writer for ESPNNewYork. What Kindred discovered was an overload of coverage given to the Yankees, and how much of it was time based. The pressures from fans and editors to stay on top of things and in the quickest possible manner paves the way for Twitter to become the platform for the ultimate speed of information for a beat writer like Matthews, and he takes advantage of it. According to Kindred, “Everything he hears in the clubhouse and dugout is fodder for Twitter and his live-blogging. He records every word, transcribes the interviews, and rereads it all so if he happened to miss a ‘news’ item while thumbing/writing, he can drop it into his next tweet” (53). This speed at which information is shared on Twitter paves the way for bloggers to latch onto the latest news and pass it along to their readers. They are able to use the Twitter feeds of sports reporters as references and blog about stories as they break, and often well before they are broken on broadcast television. This not only allows for instant analysis and commentary on behalf of the bloggers, but it establishes Twitter as a de-facto middle man between the source of information, and bloggers who often times offer a more amplified voice to the fans of a certain team, region, sport or theme.

Mark Knight, the director of college sports for the FanSided sports blogging network, claims that “blogs now have the ability to reach the masses faster than the typical newspaper”. He argues that due to the speed of blogs from Twitter, newspapers have been subsequently forced to adopt the blog formats alluded to by Murray and Kindred, to allow for journalists to keep up with their followers. “Twitter has evened the playing field. People want news NOW, and thus if you aren’t dishing out news fast, you are not getting read because someone else has already distributed it before you”. This model of instant blogging is evident in the style of websites like MLB Trade Rumors, which is nearly completely fueled by Twitter, as its staff of bloggers monitors tweets and within minutes have a blog post not only highlighting a breaking story, topic or rumor, but often times include a long list of sources as to where the thread can be found on Twitter. That’s only one example of Twitter as means as a resource of production, but it doesn’t stop there. Even mainstream media like the NFL Network has hired interns monitoring Twitter at all hours of the day, as stories break on Twitter well before anywhere else. Because of this, bloggers have become clued into the late breaking news just as much as other journalists, creating virtual press credentials in a way. Through the gains in legitimacy by way of Twitter, bloggers have been able to parlay their credibility to social media empires fueled by the basis of a Twitter follow.

Unlike other social media sites, Twitter is more of a platform than a website, as it stretches across many websites, software interfaces and mobile devices. Because of this flexibility, Twitter’s ability to branch out to its users in a multitude of different ways allows for a more circular relationship between its users and the people they follow. This again, is a huge caveat for sports bloggers, as Twitter is not only a means for sounding off during sporting events by the common fan, but a way for bloggers to reach out to their readers by tweeting links and initiating interaction with their followers. Because of the speed and credibility that Twitter provides bloggers through the use of the work of the beat writers and reporters, bloggers use the gained credibility to further form their empires and provide means for traffic-based revenue. That speed is what drives bloggers to follow Twitter, hoping to break the stories before other blogs and establish a reputation as a knowledgeable source of information for their readership, thus effectively promoting their blog.

According to Matt Clapp, a blogger for five different sports blogs including contributing roles with The Score and Awful Announcing, and the co-founder of his own personal sports and entertainment blog, Sharapova’s Thigh, Twitter is a vital part to creating an engaged audience. “Oh, its huge,” says Clapp when asked about the significance of Twitter. “I run three websites, and after Google, Twitter is the biggest consistent traffic source. And really, it’s not just the initial traffic numbers that prove its worth. Establishing relationships on Twitter bring you some long term ‘fans’, and frequent visitors of the sites, which is the ultimate goal”. And for Clapp, the proof is in the pudding as to how important relationships between the readers and the producers are, as at the time of publishing, he had 4,632 followers on Twitter. In contrast, the renowned Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, and the newly named President-elect of the Baseball Writers Association of America, sports very similar numbers, with 5,051 followers. The lack of disparity between the true reach of Clapp and Shaikin goes to show the potency of bloggers in relation to some of the most well respected sports journalists, thus a direct result of the legitimacy of blogs as not only a reliable amplifier of information, but a conversational mediator between the producers and consumers of tweets.

Despite many blogs like Deadspin becoming more popular than the news itself, blogs will always have to overcome the stigma of tired amateurism. But as Twitter advances to more journalists and the audience expands, the voice given to blogs expands exponentially. With the current trend of the blogosphere’s rise of authority, the divide between journalism and blogging becomes even more blurred than it already is. Bill Simmonds of Grantland already sees the writing on the wall, telling those at a Sports Business Journal and Daily conference that “Twitter is the real danger for sportswriting”. While the rationale regarding that specific tweet is unclear, it is clear however, that Twitter’s affect on how sports stories are broken, retold and absorbed have created a strong rise in the growth and legitimacy of blogs, crippling the need for print sports journalism, thus a dangerous weapon.

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Works Cited
Jones, Lindsay. “The Sports Tweet: New Routines On An Old Beat.” Nieman Reports 64.4 2010): 56-58. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
Kindred, Dave. “The Sports Beat: A Digital Reporting Mix–With Exhaustion Built In.” Nieman Reports 64.4 (2010): 51-53. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
Murray, Ray, et. al.”Flipping the Field: The Next Generation of Newspaper Sports Journalists.” Journal of Sports Media 6.2 (2011): 65-88. Project MUSE. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

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