Working in intercollegiate athletics at Richmond, my office works daily with social media channels. We are constantly monitoring the return on investment for our channels, whether it be a sport specific account or the overall main athletics account. I am interested in researching how social media is consumed with NCAA collegiate teams at comparable levels to the University of Richmond. I am interested in seeing what forms of media (photo, video, text) have the most reach and biggest impact on various channels. I want to know which channels (if any) do better with video, photos or graphics.
Social media has become such a pivotal role in intercollegiate athletics. It is a way for fans to stay informed with the teams they follow, parents following their family members and a way for potential recruits to learn about programs they may become a part of in the future. Social media is constantly changing and things that resonated years ago, may not be the same as today. There is a lot of data that can be parsed about social media and so many different variables that impact social media consumption.
Additionally, the recent Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rule for the NCAA will have a huge impact on social media in intercollegiate athletics. Many student-athletes will be able to utilize social media to profit off of their NIL rights. I would like to research what impacts official social media channels at like-minded athletic departments will have on student-athletes abilities to profit in t
I expect there are many commercial and trade studies that seek to college and measure impact of social media channels. You may struggle finding scholarship that’s directly relevant, but I believe you’ll be able to find studies that give you methods and approaches for measuring reach and impact. The question of measures is at the heart of your study — what metrics will you use to measure impact and to compare impact across platforms and channels?
I’m not entirely sure I understand this statement fully: “I am interested in researching how social media is consumed with NCAA collegiate teams at comparable levels to the University of Richmond.” What does “with NCAA collegiate teams” mean? Are you looking at audiences of other collegiate sports team social media platforms, or are you looking at the posting approach across multiple collegiate channels? Identifying exactly what you’re measuring and whose metrics you’ll consider reviewing will be important to moving forward with this research project proposal.
I am struggling to know how tight the focus should be and worry about not having enough data, research if I narrow it too much. It is such a unique topic and so recent that I know I will struggle to find scholarship. I have already used some of the tips from our presentation last week to find a handful of articles. Additionally, Dr. Whitehead talked about when researching current topics, some times you have to take blogs, videos, articles into your research since they are most up to date.
I wish to research which social media platforms (twitter, instagram, facebook, etc.) have the greatest reach/following for collegiate sport teams (not professional). Additionally, how those reaches or followings are impacted by various age ranges that are consumers to collegiate atmosphere (recruits, current students, alumni).
Not sure if I am moving in a more focused light or need to get even tighter in scope.