Tweeting for Touchdowns

For those of us that are sports fans, we won't settle for anything less than scores, stats, and seemingly meaningful tidbits that are readily available mere seconds after they happen in real life. After all, our buddy down the hall is kicking our butts in fantasy football that week. Which means that history paper is going to have to wait - Aaron Rodger's third-down conversion percentage during home night games in the fourth quarter when trailing by less than five points is a much more pressing matter. And we need to know this figure NOW. 

 

Of course, as our parents often remind us, one used to be at the mercy of the local newspaper, which didn't print scores and stats until the next morning (this was also a time when fantasy sports was not yet an ego-driven battle of male superiority). Upon reading the paper's analysis, your understanding of the event would be shaped by a thorough, journalistic account on the finer points of athletic skill. Although these quality stories are still available the next day, social networking sites have all but eliminated the necessity of such printed reports. What was once a night's wait for a professional and analytical approach to sports has been reduced to a "ZOMG!! TD PACKERS!!!1!!!1" Twitter update in half a second (and I've been guilty of Facebook status outbreaks similar to the latter). 

 

In swallowing Twitter updates like candy, we sacrifice quality for immediate gratification. Tomorrow's game coverage can wait - consumers demand tidbits that they can collect while on-the-go and use to trash-talk the Bears fan down the hall, all with the click of a button.

 

Some might say, backed by the evidence of dwindling newspaper revenue on a national scale, that journalistic decency is lost among the madness that is social networking. For now, critics have a valid argument; that we are so spoiled by a functional "refresh" button that a certain human element is lost. 

 

However, there is no doubt that journalists will continue to take advantage of the speed and accessibility of such social outlets and use them for the better. In an age of rapid digital communication, journalists must adapt to an environment in which information is expected at a mile-a-minute.

 

Especially from a community of frantic sports fans.