The second installment of the Monday Social Mashup looks at issues in social media and sports from a Tiger Tweeting to a merger between two former arch rivals.
Over the last two weeks, Tiger Woods has started tweeting from the @TigerWoods handle and it has gone under the radar. The question everybody has been asking is whether or not it will really be Tiger or a hired gun. Tiger’s agent Mark Steinberg has tried to assuage those fears by telling the world that is in fact Tiger but experts are still skeptical. Woods though is gonna have to prove to his fans that he has a fun side instead of being the quite conservative guy that we have not gotten to know over the years. The athletes who have traditionally done best on Twitter are those that have found a way to get closer to their fans by being consistent, being candid and showing a personal side. It will be interesting to see if Tiger can do this. And then of course there is the whole issue with his private life that he is still going to have to overcome. Thus far Tiger’s tweeting has been inconsistent at best with only one tweet coming between November 20th and today. But besides becoming closer with his friends again, Tiger could also become closer with his sponsors again. Twitter is a tool for brands to judge an athlete’s popularity and if Tiger can gain a massive following again he might be able to get back into his sponsor’s good graces. Tiger could use to have around 2 million followers by the new year and he’s on his way after getting around 100k the first day but he’s definitely going to have to improve his tweeting.
Celebs Stop Social Media for Aids
You won’t be hearing from Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or Ryan Seacrest on Facebook or Twitter this week. But it won’t be because they’ve grown tired of social media. Quite the contrary actually. It’s going to be for a great cause. On December 1st, or the 20th World AIDS Day, Celebs are going to stop using Social Media until One Million Dollars is raised for AIDS research. As soon as the million is raised, everybody will go back to their tweeting ways. Alicia Keys is responsible for this promotion as she started it and the money will be going to her charity, Keep a Child Alive. Viral videos will also be going into the campaign featuring the celebrities supporting the cause. Last year Facebook, Twitter and Google all promoted the day on their front pages and it is presumed they will do so again this year.
Sports Fans New Must Have Product?
Say your wife is watching ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in the middle of a regular season game for your favorite baseball team. But during that game which you are missing, a funny thing happens and your ace starts throwing a no hitter. Or maybe it’s a basketball game that’s going into overtime. Or a golfer going for a historic course record. Anything you are missing, Thuuz will let you know via a text or email. Thuuz’s ultimate goal is to make sure you never miss another important moment for your team again. The way it works is fans go on the site and input their interests and whenever a game within their interests starts getting really good. The inventor Warren Packard, has developed an excitement algorithm which quantifies the excitement of a game and sends emails or texts when a game passes an excitement threshold. The service will be free to fans but cable providers and carriers who are a beneficiary of an update, Thuuz will get a referral fee. Thuuz could be the service that keeps fans from ever missing a magic moment again.
Update: If you think Thuuz is a cool and practical idea, you should also try out AreYouWatchingThis?! which provides Instant Classic alerts when games get good. The RUWT!? bot is 3 years in the making, evolving over time to become smarter as its algorithm learns the likes and interests of sports fans. Another unique feature offered by RUWT!? is the ability to create customizable alerts according to your zip code. Competition is good for sports consumers. With an established user base and talented leadership team, RUWT!? should have the upper hand, but it will be interesting to see how their technology evolves in response to Thuuz. You can follow AreYouWatchingThis?! on Twitter at @RUWT.
Facebook and MySpace to Partner Up
MySpace finally gave into Facebook’s control over the social network genre announcing a partnership that brings the two sites together. At one point the two sites were in serious competition with each other for social network domination but at some point along the way Facebook moved well ahead of MySpace. Now, all of Facebook’s members will be able to stream their interests from MySpace getting real time updates from all of their favorite musicians and movie stars on MySpace. MySpace was no longer trying to be a social networking site but was instead only being used as social entertainment site. The owner’s of MySpace no longer deemed it viable as a social networking site as they had been losing a lot of money. For MySpace this move represents relevance for them again as they no longer are strictly in Facebook’s shadow but rather are a part of the social network giant. For Facebook, this gives them a further edge on Apple’s new site, Ping, which is a social networking site centered around music.
