Skip to main content

ESPN turning to Twitter to broadcast breaking news

sportscenter
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Similar to the level of integration that seen on CNN, ESPN is planning to ramp up Twitter usage both on and off air. In the past, they have used Twitter to follow prominent athletes and figures for breaking news as well as promoting stories on the ESPN site through official Twitter feeds. However, ESPN would like to reach the fans that are watching Twitter feeds while watching a television show like Sportscenter. Tactics include taking a more active role in Twitter during live events as well as providing selective tweets from sportscasters at rival sports networks.

stewart-cinkThis effort into making the 31 year old network more socially friendly is partly the result of Yahoo Sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski consistently beating ESPN during the NBA draft. Wojnarowski repeatedly beat ESPN’s live coverage of the event by several minutes on each pick. ESPN’s media rights meant nothing on the Web while Wojnarowski made the ESPN coverage look slow. The main ESPN is planning on combating being scooped by adding Wojnarowski’s publicly broadcasted feed with 40 other prominent feeds into on-site aggregation.

Turner Sports has already experimented with this concept, but with a selective process in place. The team of 10 to 15 people at Turner chooses the best submissions on Twitter and published them into aggregation. ESPN’s editorial team follows about 2,000 athletes on Twitter to break stories and many of the ESPN personalities like Andy Katz and Pat Forde already have a great following on the social network. Female broadcasters also have a large following. For instance, Erin Andrews, ESPN sideline reporter, has about 615,000 followers.

ESPN is expected to roll out more involved Twitter tools later this year. They are currently building the aggregation tools for different sections of the website and will promote the feeds during major sporting events and live coverage of drafts.

Topics
Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Bluesky social media app logo.

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more