The presence of social media in a sports organization’s strategic communication has now become imperative. Social media has the ability to reach stakeholders and audiences way faster than other forms of communication. Social media provides a sense of camaraderie and familiarity amongst sports teams’ audiences and gives fans and professionals opportunities to interact. As the writing states:

“More recently, the evolution of mobile social networked media has
given a more direct public voice to athletes who are cosseted from mainstream
media outlets by agents and communications managers, but at the same stroke,
are given a new freedom of expression through sites and applications such as
Facebook and Twitter to engage with their fans” (Boyle & Haynes).

The quickness of social media allows public relations of sports teams to step in front of controversy and provides a quick statement to placate the masses. Most people don’t read newspapers or subscribe to articles due to paywalls, but everyone has access to social media platforms. Media relations can thrive with social media. One of the recommendations from the article was “developing
communications policies, which foster positive public relations through networked media sport” (Boyle & Haynes) due to the fact social media isn’t going anywhere. It has been stated that using the power of social media to build their profile and be more strategic.

An example of a sports team who uses social media successfully is the Los Angeles Chargers! They mix professional communication with a funny quirky feel. I will attach some of their tweets. The Los Angeles Chargers have over 1.1 million followers and have a plethora of memes that millions of fans cherish. When it is time for them to be serious, they know how to interact with their stakeholders and audience. If we discourage the use of social media, we would not have this gem.