It was one of the strangest testing sessions in history at Daytona. Usually a relaxed and rather boring affair, this time NASCAR was actively changing the rules as they frantically tried to break-up the two car tandem racing seen last season on the restrictor plate tracks.
The last day featured this TV screen shot of Jimmie Johnson in the Sprint Cup Series garage watching Dale Earnhardt Jr. take his Lowes Chevy out for a spin. Junior had been involved in an on-track incident with Jeff Burton and Juan Montoya a bit earlier.
Aside from the total confirmation that NASCAR hates the two-car tango, the other theme of the testing was the complete and total penetration of social media into the sport. The flood of information from the teams, NASCAR and the drivers themselves directly to the fans was nothing short of amazing.
Drivers sit in their cars while the crews make change after change during testing. Normally, boredom and idle radio chatter are the order of the day. All that has changed with smart phones. Now Twitter, Facebook and texting are the preferred pastimes.
It was Carl Edwards who showed SPEED viewers the cell phone video he took of himself taking a lap around Daytona. He took it from the driver's seat...while driving. It was Jimmie Johnson who showed the SPEED cameras the velcro pouch inside the driver's door where he kept his cell phone with him as he hit the track.
While NASCAR talk on Twitter was a mix of cautious users and curious fans last year at this time, this specific form of social media has quickly become the most vital line of communication within the sport. Three days of testing at Daytona confirmed it.
While the drivers were fun and their comments on everything from drafting to the lunch menu made for entertaining reading, it was the use of Twitter by SPEED that stole the show. Finally, a TV network made a concerted effort at breaking down the final barriers between the viewers and the on-camera personalities involved in the programs.
The early testing sessions were streamed online at SPEED.com and the afternoon activity was shown on the SPEED TV cable network. While these two very different media platforms resulted in different viewing experiences, the one constant in them both was the seamless integration of direct viewer interaction.
From the start, SPEED made it clear that NASCAR fans would be a vital part of every form of the coverage. In addition to integrating fan tweets into the coverage from the analysts in the TV booth, the reporters in the garage worked tirelessly to answer questions and get information directly for fans on Twitter.
The result was an interactive frenzy of questions, suggestions and comments never seen before in any kind of NASCAR telecast or Internet webcast. It created a river of information that flowed simultaneously with the live program.
We have all been partially taken by surprise that the very diverse personalities in the sport have almost all taken a liking to this simple 140 character text-based free service that also lets users link pictures, videos and website pages.
While the SPEED experience at testing was a welcome one, the reality of both ESPN and FOX while in Daytona will no doubt be a sharp change of direction. FOX is a broadcast network and the NASCAR on FOX coverage has long since been designed in many ways to serve the broadest general audience, including the infamous "casual fan."
ESPN is knee-deep in social media guidelines and the network has been slow to integrate any type of Twitter interaction in the telecasts. Last season, one freelance ESPN technician had been tweeting informative pictures and interacting with fans. She provided an informal social media documentary of each ESPN effort at the Nationwide Series races.
From her perch in the TV booth during the race, she continued to interact with fans and offer a unique perspective. At no time did her social media activity interfere with her job. In fact, she often worked to solve issues associated with the telecasts for the fans.
"Social Media Smackdown" was the TDP column that resulted as ESPN subsequently banned any of the TV crew from using Twitter or any form of social media during the races. When the season was over, she was immediately fired.
Unfortunately ESPN shot themselves in the foot again as that crew member was a well-respected TV veteran and had attended many tweet-ups at the track with fans. She had probably done more to directly interact with the fans than anyone on the entire NASCAR on ESPN team. No doubt she will be missed by many this year when Daytona's Nationwide Series race on ESPN comes along.
SPEED will return to Daytona in February to handle various practices, qualifying and races including the twin qualifiers for the Sprint Cup Series. Hopefully, the positive social media experience the network had at the track for these three days of testing will provide a solid foundation for continuing this level of fan interaction.
Kudos to the TV crew, the NASCAR personalities and the fans who took the time to participate in this amazing experiment and set the new tone for 2012. This is truly going to be the year of the fan in the sport and social media is going to drive this point home. Get on the Twitter bus now folks, it's going to be a fun ride.
We welcome your comment on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
48 comments:
I was at my office saturday morning, being able to stream the speed broadcast was great. Not so much for the visual as it's kind of non-productive, but more so for the audio.
I know I'm being a stick in the mud, but fun as it was for Carl to do that, in an era where states are trying to get people to STOP using their phones while driving, it's not setting a very good example. Just had to say that. I have a relative who put her car into a telephone pole while messing with her cell phone. She was lucky to walk away.
But for red flags and other breaks, I'm sure their phones are fun to play with. But sorry, actual *talking* between people is way more vital than Twitter. And it's really starting to annoy the heck out of me that they're flashing random fan twitter comments on screen. Complete waste of space. If they're directly involved in some way, like posting an observation from being there in person, fine, but some fan at home tweeting 'Go Junior' is not adding *anything* to my life. SPEED is not the only one doing it, and it makes me turn my channel faster than just about anything else. When did people get so obsessed with what others are thinking? Ugh. Get a life.
It was incredible to have the ability to keep up with the testing through Twitter & online viewing while sitting in the hospital & medical center. Its WiFi I think is what I had linked up to, signed in with Brighthouse & was able to follow along. I can only hope to be able to do that for races too. OK not from medical facilities - but not having to be tied to a TV was awesome. I'm actually happy to have this stupid smart phone now.
I really enjoyed the more relaxed morning stuff, than the afternoon session was "more formal" - I watched that from DVR. I used Twitter to keep up.
Thanks SPEED!
I commend SPEED and SPEEDTV.COM for acknowledging that many of its viewers aren't people who have the time to sit at home on a couch in front of a TV set, but who have access to wifi, Bluetooth, and all the other methods of information streaming that today's technology provides. (They have already shown this in their Barrett-Jackson coverage so I'm glad they've made the leap over to actual racing.) They made it possible for us to engage with our favorite sport from all areas of our lives--and that's something that so far, ESPN and NASCAR have not made it easy to do. I hope that SPEED will continue this engagement during race weekends this year; it would be great to be able to ask questions during practice and qualifying (as well as during the races themselves). It was good to see that the SPEED employees (for the most part) "got it" and understood how to engage with the audience. Kudos to them--and hope whomever Fox appoints to take over SPEED will take notice!
Mr Editor -
While I don't consider myself to be techno-savvy, it was a treat to see the broadcast team utilize twitter to enhance the fan experience. Great to have streaming coverage available, too ...as for input of drivers, crews and teams - that was just 'sweet' ...veri-word was 'sweew' ...close enough
Walter
What I like about the Twiiter stuff is it makes the experience a conversation. Somebody Tweets something that catches your eye and you Tweet back and sometimes you get a reply which is fun.
Being codgerly it took me awhile to warm to Titter, but now I knd of like it for stuff like racing.
I agree with Charles Barkley though about it in this way: "If you get up in the morning and say to yourself 'I wonder what Charles Barkley is doing this morning' you need help. :)
Oh my. I misspelled a word. Dear me. Nothing to be done for it now.
Wasn't it Greg Biffle that took the in car video of him driving down the backstretch?
A bunch of them were doing it, but the conversation on SPEED was with Carl as he was not on Twitter.
Paul Menard actually posted his helmet cam homemade video from testing on You Tube.
JD
Thanks... I just saw Greg's and then another tweet where he responded that he had been asked to not post another one.
Those guys are always getting into something. Surprised they didn't bet on who could do a full lap on cell phone cam.
Ahhhhhhhh. This was the idea behind Rowdy. We were ten years too early
in some sportscars (the guys who run at real racetracks) they have camera mounting gear in the car so people can make their own videos. Safely, lol. I have a friend who got a ride-along who made one.
It was great of Speed to offer the online option even if it didn't work for me here. The more of it they can do, the better for everyone. How much would it cost them to stream all practices, in addition to on air coverage?
AR, I agree with Barkley too, which is quite non-egotistical of him (we could also say something about your Freudian slip, AR, but we won't.) While I'm guessing the rich & famous peoples' lives are more interesting than ours, you can care too much; they're celebrities, not geniuses, and I doubt even Einstein's day to day life was that interesting. So few people ask actual intelligent questions (obviously shows like Despain's get this too.) I guess if you have the right people to recognize the right ones to respond to. There were a few good ones during the broadcast.
Off topic, but I did read about a game people are playing where you go to dinner & everyone puts the phone in a stack. First one to reach for it pays (that would apply to any phone activities, from calls to Facebook though, not just Twitter). When your family is sitting in a room, though, and everyone's face is in their phone, there is something really wrong.
I love this trend and hope and Pray it continues to grow with NASCAR, the drivers, and the fans. For the last two years I've been 'watching' all the races from Twitter and getting more pertinent, current race information than I get from my TV.
And actually, I was thinking this the other day during testing, this could possible be the very BEST thing for the sponsors that has happened for the last 8 years or so with the advent of the DVR.
In the past, I always either recorded the race on DVR or let it build up enough to where I could zoom past all the commercials so I didn't have to watch them. If you want to discuss (or Tweet) with all the other fans out there during the race, you must stay current with the live broadcast or you'd look silly posting "Wow, he hit that wall awful hard" ten or more minutes after it actually happened!
So it kind of makes you stay with the broadcast even during commercials and I'm sure that's a good thing for the folks that fork over all that money for those 30-60 second TV spots.
Maybe, just maybe, the powers-above saw it this way and have decided not to fight it any longer. It keeps those commercials in our faces and who knows, we might actually pay attention to them....
What do you all think?
I don't watch any commercials, not even the Super Bowls!
I don't want to see an interview during a race, I want to see the race. I might listen to an interview, but you don't get a choice.
So I watch races on mute!
I'm am old codger who think the modern addiction to electronic communications are not always a good thing. You sometimes need to remove the clutter from your mind and let it rest. I get on my motorcycle and ride through the mountains where cell phones don't work. The peace and solitude is healing to the mind. I have both a twitter and facebook account but find that most of the drivel on them are a waste of my time.
I just want a simple well done race with just the facts and no jabber. I don't care when a driver last brushed their teeth or passed gas. A little mystery is sometimes a good thing. JFK, FDR, MLK, Mickey Mantle and many other heros of my earlier years would not have been revered if their personal lives had been exposed to the general public.
West Coast Diane said:
I enjoyed the online version of testing more than the TV version. Less is more. Also enjoy following on Twitter. Some of it is silly. But I really like how it brings out the personalities of the drivers. I don't wake up wondering what some one has done or is doing. I just find it interesting and I have learned a lot about how things that happen on the track are viewed by the folks actually involved or who are there. Also a bigger appreciation for the amount of off track time is spent with "at the office" media, testing & sponsor responsibilites.
Old Timer, you find that most of the info on your Twitter account is drivel?
I would suggest you come to my Twitter.com/thedalyplanet account and click on who I follow.
That will light your timeline up with the latest NASCAR info, news and updates.
It's not a debate as to whether NASCAR on Twitter is the place to be, it's simply a matter of deciding what information from what sources you would like fed to you specifically.
The best part of social media is that you don't have anyone forcing you to read information you did not request. You make the choices and you tailor the account.
JD
@ Steve L. -
What do I think, you ask? I think it's difficult to pay attention to a commercial when your face is in your phone or computer reading tweets.
I enjoy twitter as much as the next person, but the limit to my multitasking is watching the TV (usually on mute) while listening to the radio and scanner channel. Adding a 3rd stream of info is just overkill and feels to much like work to be enjoyable. I do like reviewing my twitter timeline after the race ends, though. If you follow the right people it can be very amusing.
Regarding the tweets being shown on SPEED, I agree with anon @8:49 a.m. It feels like another way for SPEED to promote their agenda by carefully selecting the tweets they show. That my cynical nature showing, I guess.
Allison,
Many of the new TV's being marketed shortly will have social media like Facebook and Twitter available right on the screen.
No more two devices or trying to use different technology. Want to ask Wendy a question during "Raceday?" Just type in the question and see if she answers either on TV or through Twitter on the TV screen.
It's a whole new ballgame.
John, I follow you on twitter but in addition to the racing stuff, I have to sift through football, the cruise liner sinking, assorted other non-race or totally irrelevant stuff. If it was just pure and current race stuff, it would be different. There is an occasional nugget in the sand but most of it is not worth sifting through.
If I remember correctly, it wasn't but about a month ago that there was a "spirited" thread on this same column regarding the internet and social media.
The concensus of that group seemed to be that they had no interest in the internet or social media, that they just wanted to see a good race on TV.
Funny how people generally find that access to more information usually isnt a bad thing.
Old Timer, you set your own group of folks to follow. My set of who I follow is just a resource to assemble your own.
The argument that somehow useless stuff is showing up in your timeline does not hold water.
Simply cancel following those accounts and free yourself from the drivel.
Anon,
Not too sure how the majority of those using the Internet to access a hardcore NASCAR site that talks about TV and media would have no interest in Twitter.
Social media, while great for those who enjoy it, has nothing to do with the way the producer and director put the race together for viewers.
The entire goal of NASCAR social media is to get information out that fans not getting through the single TV stream.
If you want to write checks instead of using a debit card and want to go to the library intstead of downloading a book, that's just personal choice.
I just find it hard to believe that people can take the time to critcize others for trying to get more from NASCAR than just what the announcers choose to tell the audience.
It's pretty much one of the key reasons why I started this blog back in 2007.
JD
In your column, u state that an ESPN female announcer was fired after last season, for twitter use. I can't place who that would be. Can you not state name, or would that be a no-no?
Anon,
"Last season, one freelance ESPN technician had been tweeting informative pictures and interacting with fans."
Behind the scenes tech person, no need for a name. Never said announcer in the column.
You want to see who it is, hop on Twitter.
JD
This is my first trip to The DalyPlanet although I do follow it on Twitter. The article was great from many stand points and the topic is something that needed to be addressed. Social networking has changed the way I view lots of things I enjoy but most of all NASCAR. It is my hope that ESPN and FOX will follow SPEED Network's lead and the trend continues!
JD, you say "It's not a debate as to whether NASCAR on Twitter is the place to be, it's simply a matter of deciding what information from what sources you would like fed to you specifically." When it's taking up space on my race screen, and they're answering ridiculous questions on the air *during* the race, then our 'choice' to be fed is non-existent. I can't even watch the local news or the Weather channel without being 'force fed' other people's tweets that I don't care to hear (the result being, I no longer watch; I make my choice with the remote control.) Likewise, even someone you might like to follow might have occasionally 'drivel'-ish tweets. Can't help that, I understand. JPM is a frequent twitterer that a lot of people enjoy. Did I need to know he took his kid to school? no. Yet his raceday tweets might be interesting to me. I occasionally read the tweets you have on DP, but some make no sense if you have no reference point, but I can't be bothered to look that far. I know people who have Twittered with celebrities, but it doesn't impress me that much. We have too much cult of personality in this country already (can you say, 'Kardashian'?) I don't mind multimedia, and overall I think it's good for the sport (great example is people tweeting what they see at a track that the booth isn't telling us), but there's a fine line where it starts to just be more clutter and nonsense. I'm not 'against' Twitter, but I don't feel a need to embrace it either--as you say, a personal choice. But frankly, intentional or not, the suggestion is there that people who don't like it are backwards and would be writing checks instead of using a debit card, and that's not very fair. I recently read an article about young, savvy people who were turning off Facebook because they realized they were no longer actually talking to their friends. Social media has its thorns too.
@glenc1, I agree with you. I work at a local high school, and seeing the kids walking through the halls with smart phones in hand astounds me! It seems that they can't survive for more than 45 minutes (the length of a class) without Tweeting, texting, or calling someone. Anyone. They will virtually ignore people around them to play with their phones. I have no comprehension of any information that is so crucial one has to consult their electronic brain to update. And JD, I still get books from the library (which costs me nothing) because I enjoy having a book in my hands and turning pages. If that makes me a dinosaur, so be it. I also prefer to talk to people on the phine where I can actually hear their voice. At least I don't still have a phine with a dial on it. While there are many aspects of the electronic media that I enjoy, I confess that Facebook and Twitter are not amoung them. I guess I don't really need to read details that don't interest me. I just want to turn on my TV (yes, it's a flatscreen HDTV) and watch a good race without having to surround myself with other pieces of equipment to enjoy it. Different strokes for different strokes. So, while you seem to enjoy this sensory overload of information, plaes realize that many of us would rather just have a good quality telecast without having to depend on anything else for it to make sense. I think the networks owe us that much.
Make that 'phone'. I obviously have become to dependent on Spell Check.
Sorry, Glen. While that argument might have held some water last season, it does not this year.
The reason I put this column together is because now Twitter is the #1 resource for NASCAR information from almost every source.
From the sanctioning body through the top drivers and the tracks themselves, the information about NASCAR for hardcore fans in 2012 will not come from Internet websites, it will come from Twitter.
Sally,
Social media does not exclude things like reading books. It is simply a tool that you can use to get more information about the sport, period.
Our conversation is about the fact that the big players in NASCAR, including the NASCAR TV partners, have embraced Twitter and are going to be passing along information through this service to the fans in addition to the single stream of commentary on the race.
I am not a youngster and spent many years ripping wire copy (AP and UPI) and writing stories for ESPN SportsCenter on a typewriter back in the day.
This is simply a pre-season heads-up that those fans wanting more and looking to chase the information technology bandwagon need to jump on Twitter right now.
JD
I enjoy your tweets JD...
I enjoy being able to twitter the speed guys too...
I''ve now had many questions answered on Speed, Rutledge wood & Kyle Petty on their half hour online saturday show... John Roberts, Kenny Burns, have both answered my twitter questions live, almost all have replied to tweets, you always reply to my tweets, I think its a great addition to the scene...
During testing bob Diller asked one of my questions on air, its fun to hear your name come up, definitely add's to viewing experience...
ESPN better get its you now what together when it comes to 'social media' or they are going to be left way behind as usual...
Look forward to tweeting with you this season JD!
JD, you still didn't address 'choice'. If a TV show is putting it in my face, I have no choice (except turning it off and listening to radio.) I can't pick and choose to listen only to the interesting tweets. I'm stuck with whatever they give me. A good social media director would choose only good ones to share, and that's just not the case at this point. As I said, I think it can be a useful tool--I particularly enjoy the media people saying it's raining when TV hadn't even brought it up. Or that a car has gone to the garage that we don't see. Discussions that might be missed in the garage. But I'm not buying into the 'snob' factor, and there are still plenty of negatives (ask Kasey Kahne how that 'stream of consciousness' thing worked out for him.) Some lady near here found out her son died during a HS football game because his friends were talking about it on social media before she'd been contacted (which came close to happening with Dan Wheldon as they were trying to reach his parents in England, as I understand). Just making the point, everything has negatives (also bullying, harassment.) It's not all sunshine & lollipops and the answer to everyone's information requests. It's just one extra tool in the box.
I agree with glenc1 and Sally. As a culture we need to slow down a bit and really appreciate our conversations. The written word weather on paper or electronic can be misunderstood.Don't get me wrong, we e-mail with our family members but, I want to TALK to you! I want to hear the emotion in your voice. As far as race coverage, I subscribe to TRACPASS and listen to the drivers. I record Race Hub and fast forward through the fluff. We know enough to get by but my wife and I stay away from most of the social networking stuff because we find it too much! We like quiet time! We don't want to be that busy with the kind of stuff I'm doing right now. J.D., I like your site.Keep up the good work.
"Old Timer, you set your own group of folks to follow. My set of who I follow is just a resource to assemble your own.
The argument that somehow useless stuff is showing up in your timeline does not hold water.
Simply cancel following those accounts and free yourself from the drivel."
But John, I was speaking of tweets and retweets from you.
Old Timer, I offer an online column daily and tweet about a wide variety of media topics.
Feel free to stay on Twitter and not follow me if that content does not work for you.
JD
I missed the day at Daytona with the smart phones, I'm sure we will see more of this in the future.
Sally
I still go to library for books & DVDs I can hold in my paws to use. have dumbphone not smart phone. Oh, and I and most my friends still have landlines (Except for my social butterfly local tweeps I've met! They are all iphone/Droid snobs. Ha.
Glenn
I feel your pain. I'm tired of tweets getting into much news/tv shows but if it's pertinent, it's ok. If it's idiotic, it's annoying...like too much clutter on the racing screen to begin with but that's another post for JD on another day.
But I'm tired of the 'cross media promotion' period. So many corporate 'blogs' or on FBook.
i.e. When I hear 'for more info' (when I'm watching tv or listening to radio) go to our website...um, sometimes I don't want to multi task! That's why I'm watching tv/radio.
also i agree twitter is here to stay or has been until the adds come into the feed (Like I read is happening in FB) Spambots are on horrid upclimb but are really advertising, but i digress.
That said, 3 1/2 or so years ago when I was 'test driving' twitter, I didn't get it..but a CEO of BlogTalkRadio said on an interview I heard with my own two ears at the time "The fastest way to contact me is via Twitter." ???? at the time I thought what a loon.
Twitter is all in who you choose to follow. I have a few I love & some I like, 15 or so I've met. Use for fun, sports/news/weather/food ideas/interviews/promoters of the area...so my Twitter stream has become "my local paper" so to speak. If I need to know about it? It's in my stream...or my email as my fam & friends don't understand twitter but they have seen the nice folks I've met.
Yes many of us goof off once in a while or exchange helpful info.... but mostly interact by @ at somebody.
I've met some great interesting, thoughtful, classy, funny, great cooks (eaten their food!) upscale people locally in person. They've been to my house, i've been to theirs. I'd have never bumped into them otherwise except twitter.
So twitter gives you back what you give to it. And if it's not your thing, that's fine. But give it a try. Celebs are the worst imo. I will not say the K familie's name even!!ugh.
I totally agree that today's kids/adults are hooked on the smartphones. A sweet couple I met on twitter, while here will take pics of me making drinks or bundling up cookies to give him w/o even thinking about it..and then I see myself in his tweets. I'm like "When did B take that pic of me!? glad it was from a nice backside angle, or I'd been ticked off" but he's been married 20 years so he's savvy about photos. and women. Darling wife!
These people think of smartphones pictures/texting like breathing. but as long as kids AND adults maintain polite, conversational skills it's fun.
It's when kids/adults become reclusive, obese, anti-social because all they do is play video games/text/FB/tweet, but then can not look in my eyes to have a conversation? I understand the many gripes people have regarding SM (Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc)
When I was a kid we played outside, road bikes, took walks, went to parks. We maybe watched a few hours of tv a week.
I admit I'm a moody wench and understand the SM complaints, but I also love it. Well, Twitter anyway. It's my fave.
It all has it's place. And it's about discernment in who you follow and interact with on Twitter for me.
I've had a few drivers answer me back and some sportswriters. I don't follow celebs much..i don't find them interesting. Unless it's former local boy George Clooney DMing me his phone number.
Sophia, the semi-Luddite ;-D
P.S. Excuse the Manifesto sized post. I even edited! Loquacious tonight
John
My comment at 3:49 PM was a tongue in cheek statement on just your point.
It baffled me at the time of the original discussion, and still does, how so called race fans, who are reading your column on the internet, can claim that the internet is not a tool they choose to use to gather racing information.
But if they dont want to use it more power to them. As for myself, I enjoy the opportunity to have "discussions" with, and be followed on Twitter by people in the motorsports industry who I will never meet in person.
Wow! Never seen so many BOOKS published on this site before!
Part of why I liked it all along.
I won't read the books or listen to the drivel on TV anymore.
But I would like to remember BP on this anniversary.
My opinion is we lost one of the really good TV broadcasters on this day five years ago!
Bobby O.
I miss Benny Parson's, too. Too many loved ones still taken by the big C.
Still miss you Benny.
Im in agreeance with glenc1 and Old Timer. There is a lot of clutter in my timeline when theres not a race going on. Like so far this offseason Ive seen more tweets about Tebow than racing. And this is from the people I follow for racing news. I know I know the answer is if you dont like it then dont check it. Well twitter gets the news out faster than Jayski these days so its kind of a necessary evil. There is a line where off topic stuff just becomes too much. Jenna Fryer was one of the first people I followed when I joined the twitter. I finally had to unfollow because I was just so tired of her tweeting about her late night Vegas parties with Jimmy Vasser and about that damn Honey Badger thing that absolutely no one other than Brent Musburger cares about.
If social media is going to be part of our broadcasts, it needs to be used wisely. Get updates from Bob Pockrass, Dustin Long, Gluck, people like that (with the exception of Jim Utter). Like during the Texas truck race when Kyle pitched his hissy fit, they started showing tweets from fellow Cup drivers. I dont wanna see that theres a freakin race going on. I also didnt like the twitter feed on the ticker during testing. That row is used for stats like speed and time. I dont wanna see tweets there thank you. Cause the ticker without any info such as speed and time is useless to me.
Im not against twitter. I use it, although I dont tweet unless Im trying to win something. But I kinda think a broadcast is not the best place for it. I like the old school way of doing things, like letting the pictures tell the story.
JD,
I would have tagged u on twitter but im in private and you wouldnt have saw it. This is off topic a little but just a lil FYI, I was listening to Sirius NASCAR otw to work this morning and Pete Pistone said he "heard from a little bird" that all the networks(specifically listing FOX, ESPN, TNT) will be utilizing SideXside coverage for 2012.
Good news if this is true
Sophia, just to clarify. Drivers *are* celebrities. Any well known sports figures are. Even the sports analysts sort of fall into that category since they're on TV. I'm not just talking about the "K" people. I just think in general we get impressed because some well known person responds to us, when in reality, their opinions on things other than their direct jobs are no more important than yours or mine. It's the old 'they put their pants on one leg at a time' just like regular people thing. I think I would much more tend to want to follow media people, like the aforementioned former ESPN techie, and sportswriters about what's happening at the track or about whispers in the garage. Perhaps moreso than drivers, since they can be a bit sheltered. The little glimpses of life are interesting, like I have a friend who follows Ingrid Gordon since Jeff doesn't Tweet much. It's just fun & interesting for my friend.
But cluttering up my TV screen is a separate thing altogether. It's being forced upon me for no reason, and some of it is complete nonsense.
I thought the Twitter interaction was great, I actually had 3 comments(tweets) posted and answered on TV. My comments were about the type of fuel pumps teams use, the ECU and whether Nascar would control and distribute them, and the pitot tubes on top of the cars. All these topics hadnt been discussed on TV and I hope fans got some additional insight from my comments
Glenn
yes, i know drivers are celebs so I follow very few. Most have 'ghost tweeters' or just got too stupid for me to follow. Some share fellow pet stuff & being Cat mom of 2 I love that. My local tweeps are into photography too.
Max Papis wears his heart on sleeve but a good guy to follow during racing season & his wife.
But I'm glad I missed the tweets cluttering the crawl. Good gravy, if they add anymore junk on that thing, all races will need to come with "May cause Seizure disorder". Especially BSPN with their constantly annoying, always there bottom crawl. :)
There are two things that enhance my viewing of a race.
The first is a leaderboard. Immediate information without having to stand in front of the TV and hope I find what I'm looking for before they drop it off the screen.
The other is Twitter. This is where the information is. Sometimes during the off season, someone I've been getting good racing info from will start tweeting about other subjects. That's when I unfollow until racing season begins. It is all up to me.
I keep a list of twitter accounts in my favorites that, for one reason or the other, I don't want them in my timeline. I can pop in on them anytime I want, to see if they have something new to add to a current discussion.
As for seeing race fan tweets scrolling across the screen during a race, I can do without it.
Pat
I love twitter for any and all race/test updates. We find out minutes before TV tells us what's going on. I also love twitter for the friends I've met there. The original ones came from right here at TDP. :) I look at twitter as electronic pen pals. Keyboard pals?
With that said, I am tethered to my desk. I won't get (read can't afford) a smart phone device/plan. I'm going to show my age here, I don't get what is so important that one has to be on "the phone" constantly. Unless it's a pending birth/death situation or it's the organ donor registry saying your liver is ready, who are you waiting to hear from? Not referring to those working.
@glenc1, I like that restaurant game. The home version could be, first reacher does the dishes.
Twitter has modified NASCAR life, as we all can feel a little like Jayski with these new connections. It takes a toll on websites reporting NASCAR news, since they are now just quoting twitter messages the fans already read.
It was a different dynamic on SPEED when they incorporated Twitter into the broadcast during Daytona testing. There wasn’t that much to look at in the single car AM sessions, and SPEED did a fine job filling the time with some fun and useful information requested by the fans through Twitter. It ends the frustrating disconnect between the booth chatter and the fans.
I think there is a fine balance yet to be discovered by the TV partners. I think it would be a useful tool in practice sessions, not much would change except the stories chased and discussed with revolve around fan questions and comments. As for the actual race broadcast, I’m not sure. When SPEED tried twitter during the infamous Texas Truck race last season, it was controversial as some posters viewed it as bias. It may also become overused to the point that it interferes with the broadcast. I can’t imagine ESPN incorporating Twitter in another moving ticker. It just gets to the point where how much is too much? The only reasonable solution I can think of is giving the infield studio 'Twitter responsibility'. I'm saying, the ESPN & FOX infield setups have been a useless interuption in the race broadcasts for years. Why not have Chris Meyers & Michael Waltrip (Nicole Briscoe, Rusty Wallace, and Big Brad) answer fans questions or address a point missed by the booth? If there has to be an interuption from downstairs, let it be productive opposed to sponsor plugs, recaps, and cheerleading.
Andrew, the only reasons posts are no put up are profanity, hateful speech or derogatory comments.
Happy to have you drop me a line anytime if there is an issue.
editor.dp@hotmail.com
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