Episode 196 Snippets: Olivia Witherite of The Athletic

Best Of The Digital and
Social Media Sports Podcast
Episode 196: Olivia Witherite
On episode 196 of the Digital and Social Media
Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Olivia
Witherite, Manager, Social Engagement for The
Athletic.
What follows is a collection of snippets from the
podcast. To hear the full interview and more,
check out the podcast on all podcast platforms
and at www.dsmsports.net.
@njh287; www.dsmsports.net

Olivia’s Career Path
“So I started my career knowing that I wanted it to work in
sports, but I wasn't exactly sure what that would look like. I
thought originally that I wanted to be a beat writer, because
I was coming up during a time where that was all I really
saw visibly in the sports media space. So I started kind of
going down that path and then grew up in the time where
social media was really exploding. And then I kind of
pivoted to that.

“I was really fortunate to get an internship with
MASN, which is the broadcast home of the
Orioles and Nationals when I was in college,
and then ran with it from there. I kept working
with them after school [and] I made it up to be
a Senior Director [at MASN]. And then in
October of 2019, I left to join The Athletic.”

On developing skills and experience during her career that has
allowed her to succeed and ascend
“I think I'm really fortunate because when I was at MASN [my]
department was kind of a small operation, so I really got to do a
little bit of everything. So there I was learning social media, PR,
events, working with players, things like that. So I really got to
get my hands dirty in a lot of different things. And I think that
made me who I am today; I was sort of thrown into the deep
end of the pool and then it was just like, alright, figure it out. I
had some really good people around me to help guide me, too.

“That was a big part of why I think I was able to get
this job where I'm at The Athletic now is just being
able to grind and do a lot of different things. And
then, again, social media is something that's been
very near and dear to my heart since the beginning.
So now with The Athletic I'm a little bit more focused
on social and content strategy. So a little bit more
narrow focused than I was at my old job, but
definitely still a lot of fun.”

On the size and scale of The Athletic on social
“It's a good problem to have, right? There are so many
amazing writers and so there's so much good content, so
many good podcasts, things like that. So it is definitely a
challenge, and I think definitely for me I was so in-tune
with Baltimore and DC fans before I left for this job. And
now I'm speaking to such a broader audience, so diehard
sports fans acros, not just the country, but the world.

“So it's really fun to expand my horizons and get
into different sports. It's so fun doing the NBA
playoffs and things like that, the drafts. It’s really
fun when you get to work alongside some of the
top insiders in the game like Ken Rosenthal on the
baseball side, and Shams Charania on the NBA
side. It's just really fun to work the NBA Draft or
something like that when he's on your team.

“So it's been a lot different and, again, a lot to manage.
But it's a good problem to have that much information at
your fingertips and just that much good content that you
can sort through. So I think for me, it's kind of trying to
figure out what's the most interesting and what people
are talking about the most on a day-to-day basis. But it's
a lot and we really rely on our writers, too, to push out a
lot of their own stuff because there's just, again, so much
stuff and it's so much, really, really good stuff, too.”

On what the brand and position of MASN was like, speaking to
a geo-specific audience and fan base
“So for the Orioles and the Nationals, I think it was really fun
for me because it was a lot of storytelling about the actual
athletes and that's something that I really enjoy.
“And then when setting brand tone and voice and things, for
me, I would always tell the people working for me that the way
that we should be looking at things was like a behind-the-
scenes educated fan. So we were excited when the team won.
We wanted them to do well. But doing so in an educated way.

“So that involves being rational, not ever bashing players like some
fans will do or getting too high or too low in certain moments. But
really being that educated fan because we had a lot of access and
information that people wanted to see and wanted to engage with.
So that was a big part of what we did.
“But yeah, I would say we were biased to an extent, and that we
definitely wanted to see the teams win; it's more fun when they do.
And we know that the fan — obviously winning really resonated with
fans, so it was something that we would play up on. And then I think
for both of those teams, the Orioles and the Nationals, it was just
really fun to be a part of the community.

“I felt very attuned with how fans felt about X player or the manager or
things around the ballpark, where to go before the game, or things like
that. And then same with Orioles fans, I felt a really strong connection and
I still really feel it with them. I grew up an Orioles fan, but I kind of put it
to the side to be, you know, a professional when I was working there.
“But now that I am out of that, I have been a lot more vocal about being an
Orioles fan in my personal life. And it's been really cool to see the
community of people that I've met through MASN. I feel like I still have a
pretty strong connection with a lot of those people. And that's only possible
because of my job and the way that I was able to form relationships there.”

Goals and strategy for MASN v. The Athletic
“At MASN it was really about on-platform engagements.
And I would say it's the same for The Athletic, too. We
want to know that our content is resonating with people
on-platform and meeting people where they are. So
whether that was Twitter or Instagram or whatever it
might be (Snapchat, for a time);I just wanted to make sure
that what we were doing was really resonating with fans.

“And then MASN had a lot of other touchpoints that I was
involved with too, from fan events to a lot of sponsor
types of giveaways and events to fan fests. So there are a
lot of ways to measure audience sentiment beyond social
engagement. But for me and for my team, it was always
about on-platform engagement. And then more secondary
was ratings and things like that — which we could see
when we were having an impact on TV ratings...But
definitely a little bit more secondary as far as the social
goals went.”

Balancing planning out social media strategy with promotion of
stories on The Athletic with reacting to sports stories playing out
“I think it's a combination. We are all sports fans in the social
department, so we kind of are excited for big moments and big
games like the Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA playoffs are going
on right now, so it's something that we have a close eye on. But
then like you said we have a really amazing arsenal of writers at
our disposal. So that's really fun, too, to know that we have
certain stories or features coming that we can promote, too. So
it’s definitely a combination of both of those things.”

The infrastructure to keep track of, disseminate, and activate the multitude
of stories The Athletic produces
“We have really great teams from our social team to our programming
teams and some amazing editors. I would say that I knew a little bit about
editing before I came to The Athletic, not as much as I know now; and just
the incredible editors that we have at The Athletic they're definitely sort of
unsung heroes sometimes...I think in the company everyone knows how
valuable they can be, but it's not like they have bylines all the time that
people would see, but they're amazing, too. So it's really a group effort of
how things are surfaced and how we see some of the best stuff. And then
because we're the social team, we can kind of see what's resonating on
social, too, and what people are talking about.”

Utilizing the different platforms and platform features to engage
fans and activate stories
“For me, and I think this goes for anything, not specifically my
job... is that when people are creating a social strategy or trying
to figure out what works, it's really important that you set these
goals and objectives up front. So this is what I want to be to our
audience, this is what I want to sound like, this is what we need
to accomplish. And then once you have that...you'll have different
tools...Twitter Spaces might fulfill some of those or Instagram or
even Facebook or whatever it might be.

“But I think it's really important to have these set goals in place and then view the
platforms as how you're going to get there. So say if you worked at a place, and the
goal was to hit a certain amount of clicks, right? So then if that was the case, then
you might not focus on something new and flashy as a Twitter Spaces, you might
rely more on Facebook or Twitter or whatever it might be.
“So I think it's really important that people set goals up front of who they are and
what they want to be on social. And then from there, things kind of fall into place a
little bit more easily than trying to fit everything into a specific platform, even if it
doesn't make sense. And there are so many now, and there have always been a lot,
but there are so many distractions, too, that I think might not necessarily help
people in the long run. They just happened to be flashy in the moment. And some
of those things you do want to jump on because they're going to be around for a
while like TikTok...But I definitely think it serves people well to set goals as a
digital or social team ahead of time, and then use the platforms as tools for them.”

Who The Athletic’s audience is on social media and what they want to be
about
“I think storytelling is a big part of it. The Athletic does a really good job
at it and we try to replicate some of that on social. And then I think The
Athletic knows that people are willing to invest into their sports fandom.
So I think that a lot of the people who subscribe and follow have a little
bit more knowledge because they're already invested, right?
“So in the same way that someone invests by buying tickets to a game to
show their fandom, or by doing something else, we know that people are
invested in their sports fandom because they're subscribing or following.
So we want to make sure that we're speaking to the right people in that
way…”

“I was a fan of The Athletic before I joined as an employee.
And I think that it's just been really fun to see some behind-
the-scenes of some of this writing, because it truly is
incredible. I mean, it's incredible journalism period, and
then it's framed around sports, right?
“So just the amount of amazing writers that we have and the
storytelling, the features, and now, even more so, analysis
on breaking news and podcasts and things like that. It's just
a really incredible offering. “

Community building on The Athletic platform vs. on social media
“I can probably speak better to more off platform or off app because that’s
what I do. I think with anything, no matter what it is, whether it's traditional
social or Reddit, or YouTube or whatever it is, it has to be a valuable
experience for someone. So are we creating a good user experience for this
person where we're meeting them right here? Where we've chosen to be,
whether it's Twitter or Facebook or YouTube, are we creating a good
experience for the person who's already there? And who is our target, a sports
fan or whatever it is.
“So I think if we're doing that, then we can view it as successful, even if it's not
necessarily coming from our app or something like that…”

On using insight from The Athletic’s community to fuel social strategy
“I know when a story [on The Athletic] is getting a lot of traction with comments.
And so that probably means that it is interesting to the community at large. So, a
lot of times, I definitely notice comments and see them and they surface to me.
So that's the one side of it. And then I think the other side too, is that with
audience engagement on social, we can kind of see what people would be
interested in too. We notice the community and I think we notice the good
comments, things that [point to] why people are into the story. A lot of times
people will say like ‘Oh, it really hooked me here,’ or things like that. And a lot of
times that can make its way into social copy, too. Community is a big part of the
reason why I love social and digital, so it's been fun to peruse the comments and
see what people are saying.”

How the reaction and feedback of The Athletic subscribers can
affect social strategy
“I think if we know something is resonating it gives us the chance
to say ‘Okay, how can we tell this again, in a slightly different
way?’ Or ‘how can we use this to hit an audience here?’ So we're
definitely following along with a lot of the learnings and
sometimes we'll even use user comments as a tease for an article.
So it's fun to see when someone can offer insight to a story or talk
about a comment and that can encourage some creativity from
our team, too.”

On amplifying stories in The Athletic and packaging them for different platforms
and different iterations
“It's definitely a combination. And I think it's something that you said makes a lot
of sense, too — there might be different parts of the article or whatever piece of
content that resonates with different types of people. So if we're doing a profile
on someone who grew up in Michigan, we can call that out and maybe tell our
writers who had it from that angle versus if they play in LA now there's a
different angle there that'll hit a different community. And it's fun to see different
backgrounds and things come together and how people can have a conversation
about something, even though they're really interested in two different parts of it.
“And I think that that's one thing that we try to do is we pull out the most
relevant information from these [stories] and again, something that'll resonate
with a certain group of people, and then take it from there.”

How stories from The Athletic’s content get repurposed
secondhand by other outlets and how that does/does not
help The Athletic
“So I think one thing that we try to do as a social team is
make sure that we can drive the narrative when we can. So
if, you know, [we know] ‘the board man gets paid’ type of
thing is coming, we can be the first person to put it out with
some context. It's not just this. It's ‘here's why he said this’
or ‘here's what it means or whatever it is.’

“I think a perfect example, and this was actually right
when I started at The Athletic, was the (Houston Astros)
sign stealing scandal right after I joined, and that was
quite the introduction. And I think with that, like
obviously you go down the road and I think people aren't
crediting The Athletic anymore or doing follow-up stories
on it that aren't referencing the original or things like
that. But at the end of the day, I think that's an article and
a story; well, the story of a lifetime that is ultimately
attributed back to The Athletic…

“I don't like the phrase ‘all publicity is good publicity’; I don't
really believe in that, but I do think that, within the context of
something like that when it's something that everybody is talking
about and you know, that you started it, it'll kind of make its way
back to you.
And I think then on our social channels, it's adding context and
things like that. So when people do find where the story is
coming from, they have more context and more knowledge than
they might from reading something that's aggregated or
something.”

On how The Athletic adopted when all the sports stopped
amidst the pandemic in 2020
“It was crazy. I mean, just the fact when there were
absolutely no sports going on was just wild. And, like you
said, it did make everybody creative and scrappy. And
finding things to talk about was a challenge. But I definitely
learned a lot from it, to kind of know what people were
talking about and what they wanted to hear during a time
when sports weren't really going on.

“And I think for me, it made me realize, especially around the time The
Last Dance came out because there weren't really any sports then, but
it was sort of the moment [of realizing] of how important sports are for
a sense of community and a sense of belonging on social media or in a
specific fan base or whatever it may be.
“I hope we don't go through a time where we don't have sports again, it
was really boring. But I think it did make me and all of our team really
creative. And I think that I definitely learned a lot from it as far as
listening to the pulse of what people are talking about, and relying on
[sports] history and things like that. And then I think for me too, I
really realized I think on social that everyone feels like they always have
to say something. And I think for me, it kind of taught me that
sometimes if you don't really have anything to say, you don't really
have to say anything.

“There were a lot of things, obviously, going on during the
summer that were much more important than anything that we
could have talked about. So making sure that when it's necessary,
we're giving other people the literal space and bandwidth on their
social media to talk about what's important.
“So that was really vital for me to learn during this time, too is,
okay, when we are going to not say anything? When are we going
to say something that's meaningful. And then when are we going
to say something that's meaningful, but in the context of sports.
So it was definitely a learning experience.”

On how Olivia personally and for The Athletic navigated the
conversation around social and racial injustice and
prejudice + hate against Asians
“I think it really speaks to why people need diverse voices on
their teams and on social teams. I can't speak about every
experience, obviously, but having the perspective that I do is
valuable and same with other people and other teams and
with other backgrounds. So I think it really speaks to the
importance for diversity within workspaces.

“And then for me specifically, it was a weird summer. I know
everybody can kind of say that, but one thing that I'll take whenever
I am onto my next job or whatever life looks like is that The Athletic
really gave me a platform. I was able to write something about when
Kim Ng was hired as Marlins GM. That was just really powerful to
me and really cathartic....I was really grateful that they gave me the
platform and editors to help me write that.
“So there have been a lot of opportunities within The Athletic to sort
of do things outside of my normal scope of work and things like
that, that I find really meaningful. And hopefully it resonated with
some others as well.”

On the skills Olivia uses commonly in her role and those
she wants to sharpen and develop moving forward
“I actually speak to a decent amount of college classes and
I think one thing that I say that's very tangible advice is to
take a video class if you can. I think that social is really
skewing toward video now, so it's really helpful when we
know how to do something basic, like shoot or edit a
package or things like that. So that's one thing for me.

“And I think, just more generally speaking, always be
willing to take on projects and learn. I don't think that I
would be where I am now, and I still have a long way to
go, without diving into the deep end and just kind of
figuring things out. So any opportunities that you have to
try new things, do it. And, this is kind of negative advice,
but if you like sports — just because you like sports
doesn't mean you necessarily want to work in social. I've
worked not as much now, but my old job, like 80 hour
work weeks pretty regularly, and nights and weekends.

“And I don't say that like a badge of honor, I think a lot
of people in sports and social and things kind of
humblebrag about burning out. And I don't think it's
healthy and I don't think it makes you a good
employee, generally speaking. But there are going to be
days, and hopefully your work minimizes them, where
you're working a ton of hours and you're not really
sleeping, you're not really working out and you're not
really eating right because you're just on the go.

“So I think just because people like sports, they think they want to work
in sports and social, or because they have a good Instagram or TikTok
or something. And that’s okay, but, I mean, I think you'll figure out
pretty quickly if you want to do it as a job or you want to do it as a
hobby. Either one is totally fine, but it's something I've definitely
learned. It's not for everyone and it definitely can be tough from week
to week, but it's fun. The highs are really high and it's really fun…
“Someone told me when I first started to really take note of your ‘Oh
shit’ moments where you can take a step back and be like, ‘this is what
I'm doing right now....’ And I think that that is just so incredibly cool.
So, for all the negatives, [there are] a lot of positives too.”

On ascending to more senior social media roles and not being as
involved in the minute-to-minute posting
“So it's definitely less day to day than I used to do. And it can be kind
of challenging when you're so used to sculpting every tweet for a
brand voice and engaging with fans directly and things like that. It's
really fun. But I do think that social is changing so much; whereas
before almost all of the roles were execution roles, and now it's a big
part of marketing strategies and brand strategies and things.
“So it can be tough sometimes, but it's fun to grow and be in a place
where you can have people working for you who are doing those sorts
of things, and you can make bigger decisions and focus on bigger
projects.”

What the dynamic is like between Orioles and
Nationals fans
“Interesting. Obviously there's a lot more there
than that, but definitely two very different fan
bases. And I think it's becoming a legitimate rivalry
when they play each other every year. Those were
always some of my favorite series of the year…”

The skill set that helped Olivia most early in her career and the skill set
she wants to further develop now
“I think, for me, [it was] being really versatile. So I wouldn't say I'm
sort of a master of none, but I think that I have tried to know how to do
a little bit of everything. And I think that served me really well to be in
conversations with experts of said thing. So that's one thing that I'm
kind of proud of is that (I’ve been) able to do a little bit of everything.
“And then for me now, social has changed so much from when I started
where it was very execution-based and things like that. Now I have the
opportunity to make a difference [at a] higher level and from a more
brand and marketing perspective. So [I] definitely want to enhance my
skill set there.”

“This is hard. I don't know if I have a specific favorite.
So I have described The Athletic sort of how I would
watch a Netflix or things like that. Sometimes [I] get
very into a specific writer, even if I don't necessarily
care about the team. And then from there it's like,
okay, I read a lot about that, now I'm going to scoot
over here and try this sport or this writer. So it's
really fun because there's actually something for
everyone — it's like scrolling through your Netflix
home page.

“For me lately, I've been very into James
Edwards, he's our [Detroit] Pistons writer. And
he just writes really incredible features and
stories. And I'm not a Pistons fan, I don't really
know that much about the Pistons. I know
they're pretty bad this year, they're rebuilding,
but he's just really incredible. So that's a cop out
answer because I aa

Which The Athletic writers tend to do the best job on social media and why?
“That's a good question, too. So if he ever heard this, he would laugh at me
because I love to make fun of him on Twitter, but Zach Harper
(@talkhoops) is just hilarious. He is so engaged and so online and
ridiculous, but he is very funny. So he's definitely one that I would pick right
off the bat.
“I'm trying to think of others; there are so many people who are really good
at using their social media. So I’ll stick to [Harper] but there are so many
that are really good at doing teases [for stories] and things like that, and
really talking to the fanbase of the team that they cover really well.”

Talk about the sport and the team with the most engaged band based on social media
“I'm not saying this just because I am on this podcast with you, but I think Padres
Twitter is absolutely hilarious. I don't know if it's my answer, but it's just so funny.
And they're kind of in their own little corner just doing their own thing. But if you
tweet something about the Padres, they will find it and they will engage with it.
[on the sport/league]
“I don't know if there's a specific fanbase on social; they're very different from sport
to sport. I don't know if there's one that's necessarily the best, but I might have to say
— just based on everything that's been happening with the failed super league and
things like that — soccer. European soccer fans are wild. It was crazy to follow along
with that and cover that on social when all that was happening. So maybe I'll pick
that.”

Talk about a decision, get your MBA while working full-time
“I am a year through, so I still have a while to go because I’m only going part
time. If you did it part-time, it would be about three years, and that's with taking
a decent amount of classes. So I'm just doing it as I go. I decided to do it for the
reasons that I mentioned earlier as I wanted to strengthen my marketing and my
brand skills, and so this seems like a good way. And then I decided to really do it
during the pandemic when it was online and I had a more flexible schedule.
“So that's kind of what went into it. People have asked me if they should go back
to school and I would give them very honest answers. If you don't have to [then]
don't do it. It's really challenging working in sports on top of it. It's really busy. I
think, I hope it'll pay off at the end, but it's definitely a lot. But I've learned a lot
that applies to my everyday job for sure. But it’s challenging.”

The best meal to get in the
Baltimore/DC area
Ekiben → “It's an Asian
fusion sandwich shop. Oh
my gosh, it's so amazing.
And I've lived in New
York and I've lived in San
Francisco where there's a
lot of Asian food and I
haven't had anything like
it.”

About covering Chris Davis with MASN as he became a target of fan vitriol due
to his poor performance despite a large contract
“So when I was at MASN, I wasn't a reporter. I did a lot of social and
marketing initiatives with players. So, working with [players] to come to meet
and greets or to assign some gear for fans or attend Fanfest, whatever it may
be. And Chris was one of the guys that I worked with pretty regularly and, to
be honest, I have nothing but good things to say to you. He was super great to
me, really helped me a lot.
“Obviously a bummer with everything that's happened on the field and now
he's out for the whole year. But as far as like who he was and how he treated
people, I have nothing but good things to say.”

The current Orioles player with the best chance of being a superstar
“So if I can pick someone not on the 40-man [roster], I would pick
Adley Rutschman. But I don't think that was the question, so I won't
say that. But I am so excited to see him get to the Majors; it’s going to
be such a good day for Orioles fans.
“If I'm picking a current Oriole, I think I can rule out — Trey Mancini
and John Means are good [already], so that doesn't count. So I would
have to say Austin Hays. I think that he is really talented. He's jacked, I
think he's a really good defender, he can hit, so I'll choose Austin
Hays.”

Olivia’s Social Media All-Star to Follow
The Washington Post on TikTok (@washingtonpost) → “One is more from a social
perspective of someone that I like to follow, just because I find a lot of inspiration
and it's the Washington Post on TikTok. I don't know if you've gone to them. [The
Washington Post TikTok guy] is so good. So good. It's so funny, so engaging and
very informative, too. It's hard to balance that line of being fun while also talking
about hard news [and] he does a really good job of it.”
Shahbaz Khan (@ShahbazMKhan) → “He is the Director of Digital for the
[Minnesota] Timberwolves and for the [Minnesota] Lynx. Super talented, really
good photographer. So I've enjoyed following him just because I'm not a
photographer and I'm not a graphic designer, but I just appreciate good art and
good design, and I think he does a really nice job with his photography.”

Where to find Olivia and The Athletic on digital/social media
The Athletic → TheAthletic.com, The Athletic app, and allow over
social media.
“We are focused on a lot of different platforms, but I'll just say Twitter
right now [is] the one where I feel like is sort of our bread and butter,
and where a lot of sports fans are having really good conversations. So
follow The Athletic on Twitter and all social media.”
Olivia @OliviaWitherite on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Thanks again to Olivia for being so generous
with her time to share her knowledge,
experience, and expertise with me!
For more content and episodes, subscribe to
the podcast, follow me on LinkedIn and on
Twitter @njh287, and visit
www.dsmsports.net.

Episode 196 Snippets: Olivia Witherite of The Athletic

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie Episode 196 Snippets: Olivia Witherite of The Athletic

Ähnlich wie Episode 196 Snippets: Olivia Witherite of The Athletic (20)

Mehr von Neil Horowitz

Mehr von Neil Horowitz (16)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Episode 196 Snippets: Olivia Witherite of The Athletic