1st Place Volleyball July 2010 : Page 10
social media So what does this mean for us in the athletic community? There are numerous implications for both coaches and athletes for the future use of social networking media, as a positive form of communicating who or what it is you want people to know about you, your team, or your organization. What used to cost a person or organization a lot of money in advertising, creating DVDs, highlight fi lms, or recruiting services, can now be done instantly with the use of social networking sites with sig-nifi cantly greater potential to reach more diverse audiences than ever before. While there is still much to be concerned about in terms of who you trust to view and post messages on your profi le, there is also much to be excited about as we continue to see the power and positive ben-efi ts social networking brings to us. So the next time you login and view your profi le, here are some things to keep in mind: 1. Are you proud of your fi rst impression? While the numbers of visitors to sites like Facebook have doubled, the one statistic that has actually declined is the average amount of time spent online in one sitting. Comscore.com reports that the average number of minutes per visit on Facebook actually dropped 11% since 2008. We’ve always been taught not to judge a book by its cover. But in many respects most people do make judgments about people or groups based purely on what you post and allow people access to on your profi le page. Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Blink, discusses this concept of quick judgments and calls it “thin slicing.” The term thin-slicing means mak-ing very quick decisions with small amounts of information. Gladwell’s book analyzes this concept as “thinking without thinking.” He posits that thin-slicing can have its positive uses or can have negative effects. If one takes a small amount of information to make decisions in whole, then judgments may be made that really are inaccurate. However, sometimes a small amount of relevant information is all that is required to make decisions and act. Gladwell explains how an expert’s ability to “thin slice” can be corrupted by her likes and dislikes, prejudices and stereotypes (even unconscious ones), and how she can be overloaded by too much information. Social networking has the same effect. Given that people are spending less and less time per visit, the chances of you being “thin sliced” are pretty strong. Are you comfortable with the judgments people will make about you? How can you know? Try doing the “30-second test.” Ask a friend or someone you trust to scan your page for just 30 seconds. 10 Phenom | July 2010 What messages does she read? What impression do you really give others? 2. Create a positive brand image. What comes to mind when you hear, Molten, McDonald’s, Disney, or Apple? Just the names instantaneously elicit an emotional trigger or reaction in either a neutral, positive, or negative way. Can people be brands? To answer this question, ask yourself what you think about when you hear the names LeBron James, Karch Kiraly, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, or when you hear the names Tiger Woods, Michael Vick and Britney Spears? People ARE brands and so are you. What emotional reaction do you want future coaches, teammates, or employers to have about you? There is an old adage that says Rome wasn’t built in a day. While it wasn’t built quickly, there are stories upon stories about people and companies that made just one small error in judgment and it destroyed years of credibility and success. As you think about your brand image, remember how much time and energy it has taken and will take to get others to truly recognize your skills, abili-ties, and personal character, but how little it could take to lose all of that by posting a simple message or picture. Is the shock value of posting those images or comments truly worth it? 3. Showcase your organization. Friends and groups are powerful (remember SNL?). Like dominos when one person gets a message, sees a picture, or tweets a mes-sage, it triggers a strong reaction and spreads fast. Take advantage of this and fi nd creative ways to showcase your team or the organizations of which you are a part. Are you hosting an important match against your conference rival? Did someone on your team win an all-conference award? Did your team make the postseason tournament? Maybe you are just thankful that your school sent a fan bus to a match. Create and maintain a profi le for your organization that highlights your important events, accomplish-ments, and the people who make the group what it is. Perception is more of a reality than you might realize. If your organi-zation is active in the social networking market it will showcase your group to audiences you never thought possible and reach people that may not have learned about you otherwise. This is also a tremendously valuable way to help alumni, parents and fans of your teams easily fol-low your team or school. More importantly, it doesn’t take much time or effort on your part to make this happen. ■
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