SportsNet New York, more commonly referred to as SNY or Sportsnet, is a popular sports station in the North East, more specifically, the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. What makes SNY unique from other sports stations is that it focuses specifically on the major New York Sports teams. Amongst the many New York sports teams, its strength comes form its endless coverage of the New York Mets, both major and minor league teams. That being said, although the station and website both cover the forever rivaled New York Yankees, SNY is the station for Mets fans.
The SNY social media provides many ways for its viewers to become active online advocates and participants through their Facebook page, Twitter Page, and online blogs. The SNY.tv website has a blog for each of the New York sports teams, as well as a few personal blogs from sports journalists such as Adam Zagoria. Many sports networks have the Facebook, Twitter, and blog features as well, so what give SNY that extra boost to gain a strong following? The answer is passionate, online communities.
The SNY blog site allows for followers of the specific teams to write any and how ever many comments they please on a given post. From this, followers have created strong online community within each blog. Throughout the duration of one Mets game, there have been over 100 comments from fans, many of them posting multiple comments and responses to one another. Through the various conversations that can be seen through the blogs, there is clear passion not only for the sport and team, but also for the conversations that are being created on the site. SNY allows the followers to leave not only comments, but pictures, fun graphics, and videos as well. SNY has the blogs directly within their main website, and numerous people use statistics and comments from the network’s sports writers during discussions and debates. SNY is utilizing their social media by creating attention to the rest of the website.
The SNY Twitter page has also taken the basics of the forum a step further. The site is interactive, responding to various followers and “tweeting” new information on teams, games and highlights. However, it also keeps followers interested by hosting Twitter contests, or a “TWEET TO WIN PROMOTION. ” These “promotions” consist of questions that refer to a recent topic or event that was covered by SNY. Most of the answers to these questions can be found either while watching the SNY programs at that given time, or by referring to SNY website. Many of the major reporters of SNY have their own Twitter accounts as well, and will tweet questions and comments throughout the games. SNY has taken this opportunity and begun including some of these tweets in their live broadcast. The link below will lead you to a video that gives an explanation on SNY and its relationship with Twitter:
SNY Incorporating Twitter Video
According to Liana Evans, author of Social Media Marketing: Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media, a key component of social media is the ability to create viral marketing. Viral marketing, or the online word-of-mouth way to market, is a great way for a company’s image and presence to be known. By allowing consumers to be involved in the company’s blog or forum, the company is allowing consumers to not only interact with one another, but also take away information outside of the general advertising or station shows to share with others. Often, those who are active in the forum or blog share a common interest, and are more likely to share the information of that company with outsiders who share that same interest. This often leads to an increase webpage and social media visits and interactions, allowing viral marketing.
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