Twitter has had many “jump-the-shark” moments in the past year (think Ashton Kutcher v.s. CNN), but nothing says mainstream popularity like your favorite NFL player tweeting from training camp, and members of the national media reporting on it.
“Had a six inch Sub for lunch and now I’m headed back to practice number 2. Ugh,” Redskins tight end Chris Cooley tweeted on the opening day of training camp. The Washington Post‘s report of Cooley’s tweet on Saturday was preceded by a similar story on Yahoo Sports and followed by a story in the Chicago Sun-Times, creating something of a mini-meme on the subject.
The Post focused on the disruptive aspects of the technology, especially in a professional sports league so focused on message discipline:
” ‘It’ll be interesting to see how the NFL reacts and adapts, what rules they create, and how the players will embrace it all, both in the preseason and during the regular season,’ he said.
The irony, of course, is that as sports leagues launch their own networks (NFL, MLB) and hire their own reporters to bypass traditional media, the power of social media is pushing the distribution of news even further down the food chain.
So in this new media ecosystem, who is going to break the scoop on that latest rookie signing? Will it be ESPN.com, The Washington Post, NFL.com? Or how about the rookie himself, Jeremy Jarmon of the Redskins, announcing it on Twitter? “Just signed with the Redskins! Let’s get going!!!” he tweeted last week.
Good luck putting the genie back in the bottle anytime soon. Shawne Merriman of the San Diego Chargers illustrates Stewart Brand’s “information wants to be free” argument well. Last week Merriman tweeted: “Coach said we cant tweet in the building so i called my lawyer and found a lupo [loophole] in that contract…tweeting outside yeaaaaa.”
