Effects of Social Media on a Fan of the National Football League - An Essay Example

Since the early 90s, football has grown progressively in almost every country in the world. America is among these countries. The National Football League (NFL)started in the year 1920. This American league consists 32 teams in total and is very prominent in this mighty country. Initially, the NFL was referred to as American Professional Football Association (APFA) before changing its name. Currently, this National League is the most attended sports event in the country. A fan is a crucial contributor to the success of any event. It would be of no use for any participants in a game when there are no fans to observe or cheer them. When fans attend a particular sports event, they cheer up their players giving them morale to win the game. They also provide financial support through tickets bought before entering the stadium. Other than attending these matches, these fans even check up on their teams through social media for any updates from their teams. Therefore, social media has a significant impact, advantages, and disadvantages towards fans supporting the National Football league as discussed in this essay.

Social media has taken over the internet over the last two decades. Taking over of the social media can be explained by the much-improved technologies. Almost all the generations in America are using social media as a source of getting latest updates and trends on different events. From celebrities to sports events, social media has found its place among people. A person does not need to walk far to spot someone busy on their phones, tablets, and laptops trying to catch the latest updates. These social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Of all the teams mentioned in the NFL, only a few do not own either a Facebook or a Twitter account. These teams use their social media sites as a platform to update their latest trends, transfers and also essential changes within the team (Filo et al., 170). The managers also use this platform to interact with fans. Every individual no matter who they are has an idea or opinion that may have a positive impact. Therefore, when managers peruse through the posts by the fans, they can learn new views which may include mistakes or challenges. When managers listen and reply back to some of the fans posts, it creates a warm relationship between fans and the team which may increase the number of attendance to their matches. There is an increased number of fans because these interactions show fans that they hold a major part of the team. Apart from the teams social media sites, the players also manage their social media sites that help them keep in touch with their fans.

Notably, social media is the fastest means of spreading information among people in the world. America itself records a very high percentage of people who depend on social media for any news updates rather than depending on radios, televisions or newspapers. Even with a large number of users of these social media, it can never replace the traditional sources of information such as the newspapers. Social media only helps supplement information from these sources and also by making this information more interactive. Most managers of television programs have introduced a platform at the end of the program be it news or other television programs that allow fans and other participants to give their comments and ideas on various mentioned issues.

Social media has had significant impacts on fans supporting the NFL most of which have an advantage to the fans. The first positive impact on the fans is that social media has allowed close and frequent interactions between fans and the teams. This interaction means that the fans get a chance to receive the latest updates from their teams. These may include the scores, transfers or comments from managers (Clavio &Galen 311). These fans are also able to share this information around various social media platform to more people. Social media has become the most reliable source of receive and sharing information. These fans are also able to interact with their fellow fans and share ideas, criticize particular moves done by their favorite players and also provide suggestions on various outcomes. It is not every person that has access to television now and then. But with the availability of social media, fans can receive information even on their mobile phones without requiring them to have access to a computer. The only requirement for them to connect to the media is the availability of internet connection.Twitter, for instance, has significant benefits which include regular and instant updates of information to the fans. These fans may then retweet this information and also share it to other social media sites (Witkemper et al. 8). They are even allowed to take pictures of the current matches and share them throughout the social media which increases the engagements of the fans. Social media has also enabled the creation of awareness on the teams brands through these social media sites.Also, fans can access information from these sites more easily even from their phones, and it is also easier to use these sites. Hence makes it available to a lot of people from the young to the old people.

Even with social media having some positive impacts on the fans, there are also some negative consequences. Social media has given fans to have a lot of freedom these sites. With this kind of freedom, some fans tend to misuse it. It is not a strange thing to find in the current state where a fan sends to the players or teams managers inappropriate language in instances where they are not pleased with the current performance. These fans do not understand the serious impact of using such language on their team members. Such language may end up causing conflicts with the team members or even lowering the morale of these players. Bad tweets directed to these fans may affect some of them emotionally and also their performance (Clavio & Galen 315).However, some players do not care about this tweets hence cannot be affected. Another negative impact of social media on a fan is the perception of false information. Social media is the fastest platform that can be used to spread information. In case a fan has a personal hatred to a particular player, they may compose false personal information and spread it through the social media sites where a large number of viewers will get the chance to see the news. Such information may end up affecting even the players reputation even though the story is false. The true fans of this particular player may be affected which may cause some of them to quit supporting the team. Sometimes these fans also experience vulgar posts from some of these players although on rare occasion. At times fans find their favorite players posting negative comments directed to them. These kinds of comments tend to turn away these fans which may be a negative impact on the teams attendance and support by the fans. Therefore, it is essential for fans and players to ensure they scrutinize the comments they post on social media to avoid future conflicts.

In conclusion, it is correct to state that social media has had a significant impact on National Football League. Social media is being used to update the latest information on the teams progress and also to provide a platform for interactions between the teams management and its fans. Such big teams have employed specialists to manage their social media accounts and interact with fans. Hiring specialist is a good move since it reduces the chance of the players or team managers posting any inappropriate or wrong comments that may upset their fans. Social media has formed its roots in the life of both the young and the old generation. Most people are currently opting for social media as a source of the latest sports information as compared to other traditional sources such as newspapers and radio. Examples of social media sites that are frequently used by these teams include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These social media sites have had both positive and negative impacts on fans. Some of the positive effects include enabling the fans to access reliable news instantly on the sites. The social media is also easily accessible its users to operate them and obtain the information. Also, it allows fans to share various information and pictures around to other fans. Other than these positive impacts, the social media has also some disadvantages since it will enable these fans too much freedom which they can manipulate to send inappropriate comments to the fans. Social media at times may be used to spread the wrong or false information around which may have adverse impacts.

Work Cited

Clavio, Galen. "Social media and the college football audience." Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics 4.1 (2011): 309-325.

Filo, Kevin, Daniel Lock, and Adam Karg. "Sport and social media research: A review." Sport management review 18.2 (2015): 166-181.

Witkemper, Chad, Choong Hoon Lim, and Adia Waldburger. "Social media and sports marketing: Examining the motivations and constraints of Twitter users." Sport Marketing Quarterly 21.3 (2012): 170.