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When teams' social media feeds got real, made friends and started beefing – ESPN

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What’s snarky, self-deprecating and smack-talking all at once? Well, your favorite team’s social media accounts, of course.

It’s a fine line that accounts have to walk, especially in 2020, but when they do it correctly, it makes internet magic. And in a year when sports fans have had to find a new way to love their teams from afar, it makes sense that account managers have had to dig into the depths of their creative brains to connect with their fans.

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And, with bowl season underway, the College Football Playoff on Friday, the NFL entering its final week of the regular season and the NBA into its second week of its season, it’s peak time for the team social media accounts.

“You know, I think, one of the most important things we do is just read the room. In our case, our room is millions of followers and a fan base and also what’s going on in the world,” Rael Enteen, senior director of social media for the Washington Football Team, told ESPN. More than 1.2 million people follow the team on Twitter. Another 900,000 on Instagram.

“So the best thing we can do is be reactive … you know, really think through everything and not make rash decisions,” he explained.

He and Astasia Williams, the team’s senior social media manager, have had wins left and right during the 2020-21 NFL season. They could, with a another win in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles, be taking their show into the playoffs.

They are one of the many examples among pro and college sports teams creating a voice and personality with their social media accounts.

Finding your voice

Williams joined the Washington Football Team in February 2020, a few months after Ron Rivera was hired and a few weeks before Ohio State’s Chase Young was drafted No. 2 overall in the NFL draft.

Since then, Washington’s voice across social media has completely changed, focusing on speaking to and representing residents in the DMV (that’s District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia for those who don’t know — but if you follow the team’s accounts, you know) who have been fans of the team through losses and off-field turmoil.

“We have all this new era stuff coming up — we want to match our social voice to that,” Williams said. “And so we did this tonality test in the beginning and we were trying out different slang, different words, talking with fans and engaging with them in the comments and replies to catch the vibes of where our fans were. And we just kind of took the results from that and we went along with it.”

Compared to last year, Williams said the team is all-in on having fun, making pop culture references, talking about music and fashion and making sure the players are known for more than just what they do on the field.

“That’s what we want to continue to do,” Williams said. “And that’s what we want to do as we continue to grow our brand.”

So while Enteen and Williams had a brand they had to mold, Alyssa Girardi and Gordon Weigers had a different job to do: build a new brand.

Founded as an expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights began playing just three seasons ago, in the 2017-18 NHL season. Interacting and engaging with fans who are likely new hockey fans while living in Las Vegas is something the team has been consistently focused on since its inception.

“So in the first season, that was a huge emphasis for us just because we were coming to a city, not knowing what the base knowledge of the sport was. That we were bringing your sport to a new city that did not have [an] established NHL team before,” Girardi, senior manager of communications and content, told ESPN.

Pop culture, they have realized, has been a big win on their social channels since they burst into the Twitter spotlight in 2017 — which means referencing favorite TV shows old and new whenever possible.

In December 2018, the Knights were quick to welcome Seattle as a new expansion team and the Knights’ account was finally able to press “send” on a favorite tweet that had been sitting in the drafts.

One specific reply defines why social media is so important to the team: A history teacher, not a hockey fan, tweeted back at the team calling it one of the best things on the internet lately.

Making friends…

In 2018, the Golden Knights’ social media accounts met a friend — the UMBC Retrievers. The two accounts bonded over being underdogs — and real dogs, because, duh, this is the Internet — during March Madness.

During that spring’s NCAA tournament, UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed, the Virginia Cavaliers, in the tournament. During the game, the team’s Twitter account became a place to challenge haters, acknowledge history and then absolutely revel in the moment.

A month later, the Golden Knights had just clinched the Pacific Division, on their way to the Stanley Cup final, surprising the NHL world and becoming BFF with a fellow underdog team in a totally different sport.

Since going viral in 2018 with his tweets, Zach Seidel is still in charge of UMBC’s social media — Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. He’s still having fun, he’s still showing personality.

“… It’s important to show that you’re not, you know, just robots,” Seidel said. “I do think there’s a fine line between being mean to the other team and having some fun. But I do think it’s a great thing because, you know, now you see all the kids with social media, posting fun stuff about it, and I really think it’s great that it’s really showing the fun side of it and the personalities of it.”

… And enemies

Sure, there’s a lot of fun. However, some teams don’t get along in real life and won’t on social media either. The year-round smack talk that defines rivalries carries over to teams’ digital avatars.

When the 2019 NFL schedule was released, the Atlanta Falcons used their video to take a shot at their rival, the New Orleans Saints. The previous season, the Saints lost in the NFC Championship to the Los Angeles Rams after a seemingly obvious pass interference penalty was not called.

Watch for the ram to gallop in and take out the band member.

And when former Falcons receiver Roddy White tweeted his criticism about Saints coach Sean Payton playing Taysom Hill at QB this season, Payton was quick to respond.

But the NFC South rivals weren’t the only ones spilling their beefs all over social media. Big Ten football was particularly snarky this season.

Maryland took shots at Penn State:

Then, after Illinois defeated Nebraska, the team’s account tweeted, “Good game Nebraska. Thanks for bringing back B1G football.”

Nebraska was one of three Big Ten teams that voted against a league proposal to cancel the season during the coronavirus pandemic and then was one of the most vocal advocates to restart the season. Illinois eventually deleted the tweet.

The WNBA’s Connecticut Sun are known for taking things personally online.

Even recently, as the Sacramento Kings started 2-0 in the new NBA season, they started feeling themselves on Twitter, only to be trolled after losing to the Phoenix Suns.

Being with the fans, digitally

Beefs aside, most of the teams, including the Washington Football Team’s social media managers said, are there for their fans.

They represent a region or a brand. Or they let one fan feel good that the people in their team’s front office feel as passionately about rivalries as they do.

It’s truly all about having fun, Girardi, the Golden Knights’ communications manager said. Providing laughs and levity — especially during this time, is what is most important to the Golden Knights’ accounts right now.

“We like to really toe the line between being informative but being the friend that people are watching the game. We want people to be on our social channels and feel like we’re a friend that they’re watching the game with,” Girardi said.

“You know some people are watching the game alone, so let’s be kind of a friend and let’s interact with those people and let’s provide some laughs and some commentary.”

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India’s media – captured and censored

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Across almost every form of media in India – social, broadcast and print – Narendra Modi and the BJP hold sway.

With India amid a national election campaign, its news media is in sharp focus. Until recently it was believed that the sheer diversity of outlets ensured a range of perspectives, but now, India’s mainstream media has largely been co-opted by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Just how did the media in India get to this point and what does it mean for the upcoming elections?

Featuring:

Ravish Kumar – Former Host, NDTV
Shashi Shekhar Vempati – Former CEO, Prasar Bharati
Pramod Raman – Chief Editor, MediaOne
Amy Kazmin – Former South Asia Bureau Chief, Financial Times
Meena Kotwal – Founder, The Mooknayak

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Social media lawsuit launched by Ontario school boards

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Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against multiple social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.

The school boards, including three in the Greater Toronto Area, have launched lawsuits seeking $4.5 billion in damages against Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta, the owner of both Facebook and Instagram, for creating products that they allege negligently interfere with student learning and have caused “widespread disruption to the education system.”

But at an unrelated news conference in Ottawa on Friday, Ford said that he “disagrees” with the legal action and worries it could take the focus away from “the core values of education.”

“Let’s focus on math, reading and writing. That is what we need to do, put all the resources into the kids,” he said. “What are they spending lawyers fees to go after these massive companies that have endless cash to fight this? Let’s focus on the kids, not this other nonsense that they are looking to fight in court.”

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Four separate but similar statements of claim were filed in Ontario’s Superior Court of JusticSocial media lawsuit launched by Ontario school boards pervasive problems such as distraction, social withdrawal, cyberbullying, a rapid escalation of aggression, and mental health challenges,” Colleen Russell-Rawlins, the director of education with the Toronto District School Board, said in a news release issued Thursday.

“It is imperative that we take steps to ensure the well-being of our youth. We are calling for measures to be implemented to mitigate these harms and prioritize the mental health and academic success of our future generation.”

The school boards are represented by Toronto-based law firm Neinstein LLP and the news release states that school boards “will not be responsible for any costs related to the lawsuit unless a successful outcome is reached.”

These lawsuits come as hundreds of school districts in the United States file similar suits.

“A strong education system is the foundation of our society and our community. Social media products and the changes in behaviour, judgement and attention that they cause pose a threat to that system and to the student population our schools serve,” Duncan Embury, the head of litigation at Neinstein LLP, said in the new release.

“We are proud to support our schools and students in this litigation with the goal of holding social media giants accountable and creating meaningful change.”

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Ontario school boards sue social media giants for $4.5B

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Four major Ontario school boards are taking some of the largest social media companies to court over their products, alleging the way they’re designed has negatively rewired the way children think, behave and learn and disrupted the way schools operate.

The public district school boards of Toronto, Peel and Ottawa-Carleton, along with Toronto’s Catholic counterpart, are looking for about $4.5 billion in total damages from Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., which operate the platforms Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok respectively, according to separate but similar statements of claim filed Wednesday.

“These social media companies … have knowingly created a product that is addictive and marketed to kids,” said Rachel Chernos Lin, the chair of the Toronto District School Board, on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Thursday.

“We need them to be held accountable and we need them to create safer products.”

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Social media giants ‘knowingly’ harming children, TDSB chair says in wake of lawsuit

3 hours ago

Duration 5:53

Four of Ontario’s largest school boards, including the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), have launched lawsuits against social media giants behind Meta, Snapchat and TikTok for allegedly causing harm to students. Metro Morning host David Common spoke with TDSB chair Rachel Chernos Lin about the action.

The allegations have yet to be proven in court, and there is no set date for when they will be heard. CBC Toronto has reached out to the companies named for comment.

The school boards, speaking under a new coalition called Schools for Social Media Change, allege students are experiencing an “attention, learning, and mental health crisis” because of “prolific and compulsive use of social media products,” in a news release.

They allege the platforms facilitate and promote cyberbullying, harassment, hate speech and misinformation, and have a part in escalating physical violence and conflicts in schools, according to the statements of claim.

They also argue these apps are “purposefully designed” to deliver harmful content to students dealing with topics such as suicidal ideation, drugs, self-harm, alcohol, eating disorders, hate speech and sex — particularly content encouraging “non-consensual” sexual activity.

Trying to respond to those problems has caused “massive strains” on the boards’ funds, including in additional mental health programming and staff, IT costs and administrative resources, the release says. The boards call on the social media giants to “remediate” the costs to the larger education system and redesign their products to keep students safe.

Lawsuit may be first of its kind in Canada

Hundreds of school boards in the United States, along with some states, have launched similar lawsuits against social media companies.

Last fall, over 30 states accused Meta Platforms Inc. of harming young people’s mental health and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that cause children to be addicted to its platforms.

In an email, a spokesperson for Snap said Snapchat was “intentionally designed to be different from traditional social media.”

“Snapchat opens directly to a camera — rather than a feed of content — and has no traditional public likes or comments. While we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence.”

What social media scrolling is doing to kids’ brains

5 months ago

Duration 7:52

With most children and teenagers spending hours a day on a smartphone, CBC’s Christine Birak breaks down what research shows about how using social media is changing kids’ behaviour, if it’s rewiring their brains and what can be done about it.

Neinstein LLP, a Toronto-based firm, is representing the school boards. The boards will not be responsible for any costs related to the suit unless a successful outcome is reached, the release says.

Duncan Embury, a partner and head of litigation at Neinstein, told CBC News the named companies are “mainly responsible” for the social media products that kids use, and share “common” designs or algorithms that lead to “problematic use.”

To his knowledge, this is the first case of its kind in Canada.

“Based on what we’re seeing and what we’re hearing from our educators, I think this is a problem that is pervasive across our system and I wouldn’t be surprised if there [were] more boards that took this step,” said Embury.

Ford ‘disagrees’ with move

At an unrelated news conference on Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he “disagrees” with the schools boards’ lawsuits.

“What are they spending on lawyer fees to go after these massive companies that have endless cash to fight this? Let’s focus on the kids, not about this other nonsense that they’re looking to fight in court,” he said.

WATCH | Ford disagrees with school board lawsuits against social media companies:

Ford disagrees with school board lawsuits against social media companies

2 hours ago

Duration 0:41

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to news Thursday that four major school boards in the province are suing some of the largest social media companies over alleged harm to young people, saying he disagrees with the boards’ action. “Let’s focus on the kids, not about this other nonsense,” he told reporters.

CBC News spoke to parents with children who attend schools in the Toronto District School Board. While they all agree social media apps are a problem, they differ in what approach they think should be used to regulate them.

“Just take the phones away,” said Gillian Henderson.

“I don’t think we need to sue anybody, that seems like a long, expensive process. Just take away their phones in class and give them back to them when they need them.”

The board has recently moved to develop a policy to limit cellphone use in classrooms, which includes potential phone bans and social media restrictions. It previously said staff had problems enforcing policies stating students should only use phones for educational purposes only.

Two separate pictures of a woman and a man shown together.
Gillian Henderson and Shyon Baumann have children who attend schools in the Toronto District School Board. Henderson thinks schools should take students’ phones away in class, while Baumann says it may be helpful to force tech giants to decrease harm from their apps through the court system. (Paul Smith/CBC)

Shyon Baumann said school boards could use some help in reducing screen time.

“If the school boards can do what they can trying to police it, that would be great. But it would be also great if the app creators did what they could to make the harms decrease,” he said.

“If they’re not going to make voluntary changes, then maybe doing it through the courts is the most effective way.”

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