I have been here at The University of Georgia now for two and a half years now and what has caught my eye is the growing presence of the Athletic Association here on Twitter. On game days for any sport they now have "uga tweet up" where they announce via Twitter with a question and whomever reads the post and gets to the location with the right answer first wins a prize. Not only do they have contest through Twitter, they are constant with stats/news of players (former and present), scores during the games, and special ticket deals for events. At the end of last year, UGA Athletics ranked 4th in the FBS for number of Twitter followers and 9th in Facebook "likes". Through this push on social media platforms, the Athletic Association has stepped up and has significantly interacted with their fans to drive up sales for sporting events here on campus.
One of the new things that I noticed during Football season this year was before or during the game if students or fans uploaded a picture of themselves getting ready to tee it up between the hedges and included a specific hash-tag on Twitter, their pictures would be put up on the big scoreboard throughout the game. I thought this was a fun and cool way to get the fans more excited about coming to the games and make them apart of event. Using Twitter, Facebook, and now Instagram, has definitely increased the Athletic Associations' presence here on campus and also the commitment to getting fans and fellow Bulldogs excited about coming out to sporting events and cheering on the dawgs to victories. It's a smart strategy; being able to be present out their in social media has created more and more loyal Georgia fans that come out to all these fun sporting events to support their school and win prizes, and on the other side, the school makes ton of revenue. Overall, a win-win for everybody.
