The most fascinating thing about the current social media craze is the idea of live Tweeting events. For example, during the recent
Mad Men finale, I watched the show while also constantly reading how others were reacting to the show on Twitter and joining in the conversation. During the recent #PITvsCIN Wildcard Game last Saturday, Twitter went wild with opinions, GIFs and Memes describing one of the most unusual football games I've ever seen. However, after the Bengals Interception by Vontaze Burfict, which many thought ended the game, the Bengals Twitter account (
@Bengals) went silent until after the game was over, not acknowledging the two personal fouls that allowed the Steelers to reach a victory. At the same time, the Steelers Twitter account (
@Steelers) was Tweeting almost constantly, updating its followers about the game's events. As I was combing through the real time game posts, I wondered if this was the right decision for the Bengal's PR department to make.
I still haven't answered my own question yet. I think from a crisis communications standpoint, it made sense to stay quiet because posting about the events happening during the game would just spark negative conversation about the Bengals. However, the point of a professional sports team Twitter account is to keep fans updated on what is going on. The Bengals had to be proactive and reactive at the same time, which is almost impossible. Perhaps the Bengals could have avoided Tweeting about the personal fouls by still keeping fans updated on the game events. On the other hand, they could have diverted attention away from Burfict by providing some sort of fun fact about the team or the other players. I think remaining silent, in this case, was the wrong communications move on the part of the Bengals. What is your opinion on the situation?
When I was watching the Steelers vs. Bengals Wildcard game on Saturday, I too was paying attention to the massive amounts of tweets that were plastered over my Twitter feed. As you stated, recently there has been a huge trend to live tweet events and that applies to sports, TV shows, and debates. This trend might be due to society's need for a sense of "togetherness" or being involved in something. Saturday's game was no exception, as numerous memes and GIFs flooded the internet. Both teams interacted with their fans and kept them up to date with the ongoing game. When the Bengals account went silent at the most important and stressful part of the game, I wondered what had happened to the PR team?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that from a crisis communication standpoint, staying silent as the Bengals conducted in two personal fouls that led to the Steelers winning was good. It would not have been smart for the PR department to get involved in the argument online about how violent the hit was or who provoked who, those decisions are up to the NFL league to decide. However, professional sports teams are supposed to post updates of the game. When I am unable to watch a game, I turn to Twitter to keep me updated on scores, injuries, and game activities. Now since the Bengals account simply stopped Tweeting after the interception, I would have just assumed the Bengals won the game if I was not watching. It would have been only after the game or by looking at other Tweets that I would have realized that the Bengals lost the game due to a fumble and two personal fouls. It is the duty of the team Twitter account to be the inside scoop for fans, and I believe that the Bengals failed by going silent. They didn't have to take any sort of position or opinion on the fouls; however, they should have informed their followers of the game activities by just providing facts. I agree that this was the wrong communications move on the part of the Bengals.
I unfortunately did not watch the game, but the funny thing is I did follow the game through my Facebook account because of the constant posts from The Pittsburgh Steelers. I am also not on Twitter, so I did only follow it on Facebook. I completely agree that because of such a tight game and because of the rivalry between the teams (and then because of the fact that the Bengals ended up losing the game) it was quite smart to keep quiet and not get into any conflicts because it could actually make fans upset/mad.
ReplyDeleteI believe that had the outcome of the game been different, maybe we would be asking ourselves why did the PR team of the Steelers keep posting on Twitter/Facebook meanwhile the team was going through such a tight and difficult game that (in this fictitious case) they lost.
We live in such world now that everything is very available but also a world where everyone is easily offended.
I do like the fact that companies are starting to notice the high impact they can make as a brand when becoming more present in social media, though. It is a free way to advertise and get people talking about your brand/product/company. It is a wonderful tool when used the right way!