Social Media (L to R) Detroit Lions social media coordinator Tyrik Hutchinson-Junior laughs as Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery answers the question on which Olympic sport heÕd be best and worst at when Montgomery was done with practice at the Detroit Lions practice facility in Allen Park on Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Social media has a unique way of bringing fans up close and personal to the world of sports. It’s a double-edged sword, of course and not just from the perspective of athlete-to-consumer.

Those behind the social media accounts of teams, leagues, and related have played an important role in making the product great. Once you’re reminded there is indeed a person behind the keystrokes.

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It’s not just devising 280 characters on the former bird app and pressing “post.” You truly have to get in the minds of those consuming the content.

CaroLine Jastremski is the Director of Programming for House of Highlights and works across their social media channels. She’s been with the company since 2019 but has an extensive background in sports media.

“I think social media when you will see the most success for a brand – or it could even be for a creator – is when you know your audience and when you can speak with them,” Jastremski said. “We are thinking, if I was on the flip side, how would I read this as a user? How would I engage with this as a user? Would this prompt me to want to share this with friends?”

That creates a conversation. Yes, there are promotions and ads involved in some cases, but it shows how much social media in the sports landscape has evolved over the years.

Jastremski spent time at Bleacher Report where there was a lot of news to push out on the app. And social media was a way to break it fast. Not that long ago a job in social media took the form of a young kid who had a few extra hours to dedicate to posting on Instagram and Twitter for an up-and-coming celebrity. It was more of a resume-filler for experience. Now, it’s a highly respected career.

“A company would have somebody just do the social media on top of their day-to-day job,” Jastremski said. “Now, it’s a full-time job that needs to put the blood, sweat, and tears into curating a brand or a voice on social media.”

That means it’s more than just a surface-level post.

Jastremski said one of the goals is to get the point across in 50 characters or less. Catch the audience’s attention with a caption or the decision to make for creating a visual for what it could look like.

That includes some high-pressure situations.

Courtney Kramer is the NHL’s Dallas Stars’ Social Media Manager. She runs the team’s platforms – all nine of them.

She said there are moments when she has 30 seconds on a typical game day where she has to post something quickly while thinking about her audience. Kramer has to utilize historical factors, player transactions, five-game win streaks (or the complete opposite), and even current events.

“I don’t think enough people really understand that you have to take all of those angles into account when you’re posting something on the platform,” Kramer said. “There’s an awareness there.”

It’s not always negative, however.

Kramer said some posts and content could be turned into a meme. If the vibe is right, it’s perfectly fine to be turned into a meme.


Look what it did to Michael Jordan. He was a nobody before the crying.

Jastremski said there are always opportunities for one piece of content to be turned into many. Even comments.

While yes – the rule is don’t read them (seriously, don’t), oftentimes a big account like HoH will interact with comments and mentions that can be highlighted in a positive light. That interaction instantly makes a fan happy. Engagement then increases and numbers play a huge role in the job as well. People love numbers. Advertisers love numbers. Clients love numbers.

 

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“The two that are most important for us are engagements and views,” Jastremski said. “That’s why it’s really important for us to make sure we’re doing everything to get those numbers up month by month because then we can keep that conversation going.”

 

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Additionally, you get to see how fans are interacting with a piece of content and that creates conversation and more posts in the great social media circle of life.

Kramer said social media has been a great way for the players to show off their own brand as well. Especially this generation.

“A lot of these guys that went through minor league or junior hockey the past, like, five to seven years, so they understand that everything has been geared towards social media since 2015,” she said.

It’s ever-changing, however.

New social media platforms are being introduced every day. The most recent is TikTok, which a lot of sports-related entities have found success with.

“Challenging because it feels like it’s another thing that you want to give all the tender love and care to, but super rewarding because that platform we really grew at the most rapid pace of all the four that were really on and we have a young team,” Jastremski said. “Our programmers, a lot of them are in their twenties, and that’s really why I feel like we’re having this organic voice across that platform because we have those than live and breathe that in their free time, right?”

That’s if TikTok sticks around with a looming ban for the popular app sitting before the United States Supreme Court. The social media platform could be shut out of United States app stores as soon as Jan. 19 unless there is an intervention. Government officials claimed for years TikTok, “poses national security risks because ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing and must operate under Chinese laws. China, a U.S. adversary, could use the app to collect a vast amount of data on TikTok’s American users and spy on them,” officials have said.

But the latest news is indicative of the ever-changing world of social media. One network grows, and another disappears. And when team admins feel like they’ve got it figured out, everything changes. The social media landscape has shifted in so many innovative and imperative ways in the sports world and has completely transformed the fan experience. It’s impossible to have a successful team or entity in the space without a platform that brings the game to fans. And those who make a living in social media know that each day brings new challenges and opportunities to bring fans closer to their favorite teams.

Social media is way more than doom scrolling, it’s a way of life for many throughout the sports world. And will be for some time to come.

About Jessica Kleinschmidt

Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.