@The_Masters is On Twitter
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 6, 2009 1:10 PM EDT
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PrintAs you may know, Waggle Room is on Twitter. We have more followers than the LPGA Tour. Yeah. Take that.
Anyway, we're doing our own live Twittering/blogging thing on Twitter, and we're going to include The Masters' Twitter page. It's up and running. (We have more followers than them, too. For another couple of hours probably.)
Golfweek's Monday Scramble tried to come up with some unlikely Twitter posts from this account.
I want to figure out what they're really going to be Twittering about during the week. To answer that, we'll need to answer some questions.
First, who is doing the Twittering? It's pretty common knowledge that a lot of famous and celebrity types don't do their own Tweets. They have ghost Twitterers. Since the Masters is a club, are they having a member do it? Is it Hootie Johnson?
Hootie's Reaction to Being Asked To Twitter
Maybe Billy Payne? Former USGA President Fred Ridley? Or did they hire some dude from CBS Sports to do it.
It is a critical question to be asking if we're going to figure out what kind of Tweets that we're going to get from The Masters.
Maybe an indication of what we will get from the tournament is what we're getting from them right now.
Observe these Tweets:
Bubba Watson got ooh's and ah's on 16 as he attempted to skip a ball across the water with his driver. It's a relaxed and sunny afternoon.
Overheard on the grounds: "There isn't a blade of grass out of place."
I don't want Jim Nantz's cliche sayings condensed into 140 character posts. On the other hand, I know getting something silly or critical is not going to happen either. That would be like me posting this:
Don't read Waggle Room today. I mailed in a dumpy couple of posts about chix playing golf. ZZZZZZ.
No one would come to the blog if I said that. (I don't believe women's golf is boring, BTW.)
So, what do you want to hear from @the_masters?
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I have completely lost interest in this Twitter thing. Unless you have a specific person or group of people who you enjoy talking with – I don’t get anything out of it.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I think it is getting better for golf. Golfweek, Golf.com, and Golf Channel all got accounts in the past couple of weeks. Really, though, it boils down to how much they interact with people following them. If they don’t follow back or respond to messages, then it’s nothing more than a link service.
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 6, 2009 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions
but what do you really learn that you don’t see on TV ? these guys are sitting in the media tent watching the same broadcast I am.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Well, someone like Stewart Cink is cool to follow. He has some interesting Tweets. If TGC or whoever gave tweets of what’s happening on course, quiet convos, etc. That would be cool.
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 6, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
good thing Monty's not there..
…“WHO’S MAKING ALL THAT BLOODY TAPPING ???” Steve Williams might be filling Ray’s Creek with PDA’s, phones, and netbooks. :-)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Hahaha. If I had more time on my hands – aside from the other projects I’m trying to find time to do – I would have so many fake Twitter accounts for reasons just like that one :)
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 6, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I Guess It's Okay
First of all, thank you for helping bring the game of golf to the 21st Century. For that matter, I’m proud of The Masters PR person who convinced the board this would be a good idea. Wouldn’t you have liked to be a fly on the wall as they tried to explain the concept to Hootie and the gang? They are on Facebook, too? Simply amazing.
Well, you should have only picked up on a tinge of sarcasm. The sport does need to rebrand itself, and taking advantage of social media and networking sites is a step in the right direction. Looking through some of the recent posts on Twitter, they have done a good of a job as possible. However, I have never been truly sold on the website concept as a whole. You have to be simply enamored with someone of something to stay current with a Twitter page. It seems a little obsessive if you ask me. The Masters and Twitter just do not seem like a likely match. The site is too new and frankly too hip for most prestigious golfing event in the world, aside from maybe the Ryder Cup. On the other hands, the US harbors thousands of obsessive golf fans that will surely keep up with the tweets this week. Heck, I probably will, too. Facebook makes a little more sense, though. The Facebook team has made leaps and bounds in turning their site from a place where college students share their party photos to a respectable social networking tool. The Masters can track their "fans," upload media, and let the user post their thoughts. I applaud the move and have liked reading the "wall" so far.
That’s a good call on Facebook. I’ve noticed that, too. I think Facebook realized that they were hitting a wall with college kids and decided to make something more of it. Facebook is definitely at the pace of the Masters. Real time, but not hyper real time like Twitter can be.
Frankly, in my use of Twitter, I really only keep up conversations with up to 20 of my followers. That’s the best part for me. I’m sure it drives some traffic to here. And sometimes, I do find some cool links from people that I follow. Still, the best part is trading Tweets about golf and learning something that I may otherwise not have.
by Ryan Ballengee on Apr 6, 2009 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Just a quick point...
…“Hootie and the gang” aren’t in charge anymore. Billy Payne is the chairman, and he is more than a little up to date on modern communications and media. The people who are members at Augusta National aren’t old money types sitting on the veranda sipping iced tea. These are some very connected and high powered business people. Things like Facebook and Twitter are cute and somewhat effective – but I’m guessing that they really don’t have the time to “tweet” all day. These things may be “hip” and “cool”, but in the real scheme of things, are they really productive and important ? The Pet Rock was popular, too. (I know I know – I’m being a wet blanket – sorry) Honestly – I’m glad you’re enjoying the “wall” – have a great time.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
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