Building Social Communities

It seems now, more than ever before, there is more of an opportunity for "regular" people to get their thoughts and opinions onto the web. This has been aided by the idea of social communities. We see it with YouTube, Facebook and many other social networking sites that allow individuals to interact with one another, comment on stories, blogs or videos. 

I chose to focus on a relatively new site that was launched by ESPN. The site: espn los angeles focuses on every team, whether collegiate or professional, that is based in LA. ESPN has also launched similar sites in Chicago, Boston and Dallas. The rumor is that they eventually would like to have a site for every major market in the US.

The site offers fans of LA sports team up-to-date news and stories on all LA teams and players. Obviously we are in the thick of basketball season so the Lakers have been dominating the main page, and for good reason, they're the best team and they have the best player in the league (Kobe Bryant).  Aside from articles, the site also offers fans team-based blogs (USC blog), video features, a link to purchase tickets for an LA sports event and a link to ESPN790 (the main radio for LA sports).

With each article, blog post or video feature, fans also have the opportunity to write their own comments. While these city-based ESPN sites do not allow for as much individual interaction as Facebook, ESPN has built a social community where passionate LA sports fan can gather, read or watch the latest on their favorite team or athlete and carry on conversations within the commenter sections. Additionally, almost every LA sports writer on the site has a twitter page, so the opportunity to carry on a conversation or engage in a new one is present outside of the ESPN Los Angeles site. 

SuperBowl Champs

As one of the most watched SuperBowl's in history, I'm sure many of you watched some or all of the game. I watched every minute and was very happy to see New Orleans pull out the victory. The next morning I made my daily rounds on the internet and went over to ESPN to see their coverage of the game. Obviously, ESPN has the money and capabilities to produce probably the best sports website on the net, but I am always amazed at the features they are incorporating into their stories. ESPN gave the SuperBowl it's own webpage where someone could find all of the stories, video features and pictures in one place. Besides the coverage in Miami, we also got to see New Orleans after the victory. As much as that game was about football, it was also about the city of New Orleans.

My favorite feature that ESPN has installed in recent years is their "zoom gallery". Its a flash-based picture feature that allows the reader to see things that happened before, during or after the game that may not have been caught by TV. The pictures are of the highest quality and, for me, they really take me into the game.

Story vs. Topic

Headline: A Presidential Performance

 Georgetown blows by Duke with the President and VP sitting courtside.

STORY lines:

1) Coverage of Georgetown's blowout of Duke. Video of game highlights, interviews from both coaches and 2 players from each team, pictures of the game, a paragraph devoted to President Obama at the game as well as some pictures of him sitting courtside.

2) President Obama watching the game courtside with VP Biden. Video of them during the game as well as the video of President Obama while he was in the booth with the two game announcers. Pictures of the President throughout the game. Reaction from both teams about having the President and VP at the game.

3) Georgetown bounces back from their big loss to Syracuse the game before. Show video highlight of Georgetown's last game. Compare the stats between last game and this game. Get reaction from Coach Thompson on what the differences were.

4) Austin Freeman's play the past two games. He's shot well. Chart showing his stats for the season and then a separate chart for the past 2 games. Video of Freeman talking about his recent play.

5) Coaches wearing sneakers to raise awareness for the fight against cancer. Background on the initiative and coaches feelings about wearing sneakers with their suits.

TOPICS

1) Look at teams who have shot over 70% from the field in the past 5 years. Were the teams playing at home or away, did they win or lose, how many 3-pointers did they take. The information could be put into a chart. Show video of some of the teams from their games in which they shot 70%.

2) Past President's who have attended a college sporting event. Have a slideshow of pictures of each President at the game. Give the outcome for each game. Possibly make a map with pinpoints of the locations where each President watched a game.

3) Complete review of the Duke/Georgetown series since it's inception. Coaches feedback on the two teams playing, series history; who is leading the series, any standout performances by individual players. Slideshow of pictures from the series for each year, video of coaches talking about the series and video of fans talking about this series.

4) Review of how much extra security is needed when a President attends a college game. Timeline of the procedures secret service and the arena follows when preparing for the President's arrival. 

5) Review of the coaches wearing sneakers initiative. Statistics showing how much has been raised, slideshow of past coaches wearing the sneakers. Video of  former NC State head coach Jim Valvano's final speech at the ESPY's before he passed away from cancer. Video of local coaches talking about the importance of wearing the sneakers to raise cancer awareness.