1. Social Media in Collegiate
Athletics
What do coaches need to know?

2. Look at the Stats
 Twitter: In one year Twitter’s growth rate passed 1000%
 Facebook: The site has 250 million active users, and more
than 120 million use it every day.
 Youtube: If YouTube were a country it would the the 3rd most
populated place on Earth.
 Skype: 8% of all human-to-human voice communication is
run through Skype.
www.econsultancy.com (July 2009)

3. Twitter
 What?
 Microblog
 Updates: “What are you doing”
 Where?
 Upload from phone or computer
 Receive updates via text
 Why?
 Recruiting Potential
 Fan Engagement/Experience
 Personal Branding

4. Twitter
 How?
 Create Account (Private or Public*)
 Start Tweeting
 Follow People, Gain Followers
 @Reply
 Direct Message

5. Lets Clarify
 Don’t tweet about recruits!!!
 You may only tweet about recruits if it is in response to
an inquiry made by the media in order to confirm your
recruitment of a prospect.
 Don’t @Reply anything to recruits
 Don’t DM recruits if you know they receive the
message via text.

6. Facebook
 Create an account
 Add friends
 Note that e-mails are automatically sent as part of requesting
to add someone as a friend.
 The Wall
 Impermissible to post on a recruits wall
 Use your inbox to message a recruit
 Your Inbox
 The correct and safe way to message recruits
 Better if recruit accepts you as friend before you send
them messages.

7. Facebook
 Create a team policy
 Set privacy to maximum, protect your student-athletes
 Remember who and what we represent
 Refrain from offensive photos and comments
 Understand that even if you limit access to your site, anything you
upload becomes property of the site(s)
 Only add people you know as friends
 Never share your phone number or address
 Don’t let Facebook mishaps come back to haunt you
 Texas football player kicked off team for making offensive
comment on Facebook about Pres. Obama.
 One team at an SEC school had players making offensive
comments about their coaches, not realizing it was in public view

8. Youtube
 Any video posted on Youtube MUST be geared towards
the general public/fan based.
 Nothing personalized for recruits!
 Can’t send the video to recruits, only the link.
 Stanford Youtube Channel
 Example Video

9. Skype
 Utilize Skype for international or tech savvy recruits
 Videoconferencing falls under the category of a phone
call (13.02.14)
 Be aware of the time periods permissible to make such
calls.

10. @Reply Function
 Public tweet directed at another Twitter user.
 BE CAREFUL WITH THESE!
 The NCAA’s take on @Reply
 Communication with a recruit in public view is a violation
 Don’t @reply a recruit, EVER!

11. Direct Messages
 The safe way to communicate
 PRIVATE
 Use this method to communicate with recruits
 They must be a “follower” of yours.
 They can’t have DM’s sent via text (to your knowledge)

14. Tweets
WHAT CAN I TWEET ABOUT?
General info not created for a recruiting purpose such as game
scores, team updates, facility updates, or updates regarding the
coaching staff and/or team.

15. Ex: @Reply

16. Ex. Direct Message

17. Followers

18. FB Profile

19. FB Inbox