Reflections on Social Media Project #1

Christian Weaner
Nov 5 · 4 min read

I knew that I was interested in sports and enjoyed researching, writing and conducting interviews with coaches and athletes, but until this year, I had not truly considered how social media played a role in my future career. Interviewing two professionals who create social media content on a daily basis for sports teams, I was able to learn how sports and online interaction come together to enhance traditional coverage of teams and players.

The Interviews

For my recent social media project, I interviewed two individuals who have spent a large portion of their respective careers building followings for basketball teams. Both of these men taught me a lot about the need to be creative and progressive in online coverage, especially on Twitter.

My first discussion was with Kris Koivisto, a senior manager of social media for T-Mobile and the former managing editor of social media content for the Portland Trailblazers. Koivisto told me his story of getting hired as an intern with the Trailblazers and how he worked his way up through the organization, before becoming the head of content creation for the a Twitter account that was rated as the best in the NBA for two straight years.

Koivisto talked about the evolution in the use of social media throughout his time in Portland, noting that tasks during his internship in 2007 and 2008 included writing for the team’s independent blog website and MySpace account. Koivisto talked about his decision to start using GIF videos and posting about Damien Lillard’s rap album, which transcended what was the status quo at the time. The biggest takeaway I had from my interview was how open he was to “pushing the limits” of what other teams and reporters were doing at the time.

In my second interview, I talked with Liberty’s associate athletics communications director and men’s basketball sports information director Steven Gonzalez. Gonzalez went to Northern Arizona University, where he gained experience as a TV sports anchor, newspaper journalist, and social media director for the men’s basketball team.

Gonzalez emphasized that people who are starting out and wanting to do something in sports should work to get their feet wet and try as many different opportunities as are available to them. He also advised that making connections with as many people as possible is key to landing jobs and furthering yourself in the career path you desire.

On the topic of social media, Gonzalez talked about the different creative ideas that he has tried to imply for his coverage of men’s basketball at Liberty. He mentioned examples like the video of Flames players burning NCAA Tournament brackets, which he posted after their win against Mississippi State in the Round of 64 last March. Gonzalez explained that coming up with new and interesting ideas adds a lot of intrigue that simply posting statistics from a game might not bring.

One of the biggest takeaways that I had from the both interviews was how adaptable I need to be as a sport journalist, especially regarding the use of social media. Neither Koivisto nor Gonzalez knew that they would be head content creators for Twitter accounts when they began their education and pursuit of sports journalism. However, both of them worked hard, used their connections and learned how to accommodate new skills to be successful.

The Process

As far as the actual interviewing process, I was reminded how important preparation is to have a good, flowing conversation. I thought that both of my interviews moved from one idea to the next well, but that only occurred because I was diligent to spend several hours doing research and writing questions to get the answers that I was looking for. It helped that both men were open to talking with me and sharing about their lives and careers, but I truly believe that preparation is what makes or breaks an interview.

For both interviews, I was able to use the studios at 90.9 The Light, the campus radio station, to record clean, clear audio that would be considered broadcast quality. I know that in the future I may not always have the ability to use professional equipment like that, but I was very thankful that I have that ability as a student at Liberty.

Honestly, the details of both interviews worked out really well. I was on top of scheduling both of them early and got the recording and editing process done quickly, so that I would not have to worry about procrastination.

Overall Thoughts

In general, I thought the project was helpful to further my abilities as a journalist and expanding my knowledge of social media. I am not always a huge fan of open-ended projects like this one, but I was glad to be able to shape the interviews in a way that suited the people I was talking to.

I thought that it was helpful that I had a little bit of a guideline for what I needed to talk about, but I could also ask the questions that I wanted to, and did not feel like I was being held back by a rubric or specific instructions. The only suggestion that I might have would be to shorten the required length of the interviews. I did not have an issue recording for 25 minutes, but two interviews of that length did require pretty extensive planning and preparation in order to execute both of them well.

Finally, I will say that I truly learned a lot from the subjects that I was able to speak with. I was definitely blessed with a very random connection that allowed me to talk with Kris Koivisto, but I am so thankful that these two professionals were willing to speak with me. If I did the project again, I’d likely either try and find two more professionals to interview, or I would research and write an original story of something going on in Lynchburg.

Christian Weaner

Written by

Christian Weaner is a student journalist at Liberty University.

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