Tweet. Tweet.
You there?
I am, but I am just starting to feel my way around in the Twitterverse.
The Columbian’s high school sports team (360preps) has been on Twitter throughout the school year. Most of the time, we use it to post our scores from throughout the region, often as soon as we get them.
Then, during basketball season, I got my own account for work — twitter.com/360paulv
(Oh, and the 360 is the area code, not my weight, in case you were wondering.)
Anyway, it was fun to use as we — the readers, the athletes, the coaches, the journalists — embraced the technology. Journalists and fans posted scores from wherever they were, and just like that, anyone who was following could see what the rest of the state was up to at that moment.
Readers could use it as a tool to ask questions directly to the journalists. My colleagues at other newspapers were quick with a reply, 140 characters or less.
For me, I’ll acknowledge, the whole Twitter thing is still new. That’s about to change, and I would love your help.
In the coming weeks, my goal is to get out there more, not only to promote whatever I am working on for The Columbian, but to let you get to know me better.
“Hello, my name is Paul, and I’m not afraid to say I like Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and even some Bruno Mars music.”
Don’t worry, my crush for 80s music remains true. But I have to admit the new stuff is fun. Keeps me young, too. Kind of like new technology.
Perhaps you will let me get to know you a little better, too.
Later, I expect to use Twitter to ask for story ideas. We get a lot of ideas from coaches and athletic directors, but some of the best come from the average reader or sports fan who might have heard something great about an athlete.
Sure, there is e-mail, and there’s always the phone, but for a lot of people, a Twitter conversation can be quicker, easier, and even more convenient. It’s just one more tool to get information fast.
Sure, I miss some of the things we used to do back in the old days. You know, it was all the way back three or four years ago when I roamed the sidelines and took notes for every football game, then fed the horses and drove The Columbian stagecoach back to the office to write my story for the next day’s paper.
But a couple years ago, we started blogging scores after each quarter. So I said goodbye to the sideline and hello to the press box. Then Twitter came along, and now I post every touchdown, field goal, and safety, usually within 30 seconds.
And if I’m feeling really mathematical, you get stats at halftime.
There probably are story ideas I am missing by not being on the sidelines, but the readers have spoken: Our numbers on Twitter and our high school sports Web page jump on Friday nights during football season.
Plus, I don’t get rained on anymore. Bonus!
Football seems made for Twitter — one game a week, most of the games on the same day, readers and journalists focused on the same thing. But then Twitter ruled this past basketball season, especially in the playoffs. The WIAA’s new format, with opening-round state-tournament games at various locations, would have meant a lot of scrambling to find scores in the old days. Now, it was a quick look at the computer screen or a smart phone.
In the coming months, I hope to get tips from The Columbian’s own Social Networking gurus on how to better serve you online. Not just for football and basketball but for all high school sports.
Yes, there is a push here at The Columbian for reporters to use more online tools to reach you. But this should be easy for me. Because I have you.
So, if you follow me — twitter.com/360paulv — you’ll actually be leading me . . . into the next best thing in providing information.
Paul Valencia covers high school sports for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4557 or e-mail at paul.valencia@columbian.com. Oh, and Twitter, too, at twitter.com/360paulv
