Different social media sites are being used to recruit athletes
Over the past couple of decades, the college athletic recruitment process has completely transformed.
The process of this transformation could be credited to the new way of the world, which is social media.
According to a New York Times article, coaches and recruits claimed that social media sites such as Facebook, account for 50 percent of their recruiting interaction.
For those that may be unaware, “social Media is the future of communication, a countless array of internet based tools and platforms that increase and enhance the sharing of information. This new form of media makes the transfer of text, photos, audio, video, and information in general increasingly fluid among internet users,” according to socialmediadefined.com.
For coaches and recruiters, social media serves as another platform to contact, recruit and gather information about prospective athletes. For the athletes, it is a great tool to get recruited, interact with fans; other recruits and control the way that they are being portrayed to their future school.
Social media is serving as a great platform for recruits to showcase who they are as a student-athlete.
A prospect can tweet or post on Facebook any accomplishments that they have received or post a video that highlights their new career high. This is the perfect opportunity for high-school athletes to brand themselves and display their abilities.
According to a Bleacher report, Chad Jamison, the former director of high school relations at North Carolina State University, discussed how social media messaging has made recruits more easily accessible to coaches.
“In the beginning, even when I was a recruiting intern in 2000, we did everything through the high school coach,” Jamison said. “Social media starts the process much quicker.”
As a result of that, social media messaging has become the go-to method of communication between coaches and recruits. Especially at the Division I and II levels.
At one point, the recruiting process simply began with the athlete’s high school coach. Once that relationship was established, then college coaches and recruiters would make their way in to the homes of athletes. Coaches’ only options of contact were to speak with them on the telephone, in person or just send letters through the mail.
Although there are a few restrictions, coaches can now engage in a conversation with a recruit through a twitter or Facebook message.
Sending out a tweet in less than 30 seconds is way more convenient for college coaches compared to writing and mailing out a letter through a postal service.
Social media can help to provide those close connections between coaches, staff and recruits that will let them know how much the school appreciates the future student-athletes.
David Howell, sports information director, plays a big part in the social media aspect of Cabrini athletics.
“We use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. All of our stories from the web are linked to our Facebook and twitter pages,” Howell said. “I also use twitter for more instant things, like score updates or in-game pictures.”
The college competes at a division III level. Social media usage pertaining to direct contact with recruits is not as prevalent compared to division I and II athletics.
“There are several NCAA rules which govern social media so we do not do anything special in terms of recruiting,” Howell said.
According to a 2012 social admissions report by Uversity.com, 72 percent of incoming high school seniors reported that they researched their prospective college on a social media site. The same goes for athletes when they are deciding where they will spend the next four years of their lives.
Colleges and universities now have a complete athletic website separate from the college’s main home page.
On this website you can find a plethora of information about the college’s sports teams; as well as YouTube videos, tweets and other important information pertaining to the schools athletic department.
As a recruit, social media is a great resource to research the college’s you are considering and get a feel for what they really are about.
The affect of social media on the athletic recruitment process is a major benefit for all parties involved.
“I think most importantly, we can reach everyone, including current, former and prospective students, in a realm in which they are comfortable,” Howell said. “We can literally put the information in their hands in a matter of seconds.”
