The most undeniably addicting thing in the world has nearly all of us in a choke hold, and I made it my job. Addicted much?
Social Media has completely taken over, whether we love it or hate it. So, what’s it like when you take it and make it your profession? And for the hockey world? Insider news, it’s more fun than you’d ever expect.
Day One
The most intimidating thing is starting your new job, or internship, feeling like you’re a lost puppy. When I entered the world of social media management, and sports, I knew close to nothing. I barely knew how to graphic design, and Adobe was the monster under my bed.
I was lucky enough to be placed with an understanding, and passionate, boss who made me feel at home in our cute shared office space. So, diving into the start of the career – it’s a lot of work. You push yourself to outdo yourself, and show off your best work… It’s like dressing to impress, but you hate fashion, so you tucked yourself into the cozy life of social media.
I did a lot of research into other teams’ media, social media engagement, and how to up your numbers. Social media for sports teams is all about giving the fans what they want, and that is the athletes.
Behind the scenes
Take 273, annnnnd ACTION! Nothing is as perfect as it appears. In fact, social media is extremely fake – as we all know. That perfect goal video? A million deleted clips of missed shots. That hilarious edit? Hours of finding the videos in files, editing each second, and more. That killer song over each post? Endless playlists and that song on repeat while you edit and post. (Annoying!) That funny caption? Pure talent baby, don’t take that from me.
You’ll hate your content, and love it at the same time… like most of our “talking” stages, right? Don’t forget, you really get out of your comfort zone when you’re the one taking the photos and videos you use. If it wasn’t for that “media” badge with the letters that can be seen clear across the rink, I’d look like I’ve gone insane. Working in social media on game days has me sporting the cute heels and tight dress pants while sumo squatting so I can get that angle where the light hits the helmet perfectly.
No one talks about how much you get out of your comfort zone when working in sports. I’ve stuck to the hockey industry, but I’ve experienced the social media content creation life with both men and women’s teams.They’ll see the best and worst of you, but genuinely appreciate you in the end. Nobody else is going to watch with the same amazement while I spin in circles and run across the rink as the athletes I am filming. At the same time, no one else is going to want to punch me more after they get the scare of their life walking around that corner to find their social media girl crouched down for the angle.
The Athletes personalities
Working in both men and women’s hockey has given me my fair share of personalities. I’ve never argued with a man more than when I ask “can you be in a video for TikTok?”. You’d think I asked them to clean their rooms.
I started working in the junior league hockey world when I was twenty, and if you know anything about the junior leagues – that’s pretty close to their age. I felt like a parent, a friend, and an annoyance at the same time. The funniest moments I’ve experienced working in social media have been when the cameras are off and we are in the getting ready to film part. The green screens off, the athletes are arriving, my boss is getting the cameras ready, and I am planning the content. In this moment, this is where the personalities come out. You’ll feel like a parent when they ask you to help with your homework, or come barreling in the room shouting they dropped ketchup on their shirt and you need to drop everything to help them right this moment.
You’ll laugh when you ask them to come film their video content, and while they’re walking past you briskly, tell you “I don’t speak english” in the world’s most clearly heard sentence. But this is all the men, the women’s team have been my angels. My saving grace. My hope in humanity… or, well, athletes doing social media. The queens I am speaking about? The University of Michigan’s Women’s Ice Hockey Team. In our very own backyard!
This was the most refreshing transition I have ever encountered. While working with the mens team was hilarious and exciting, the women’s team are a lot less sass and absolutely no back talk. When introduced to the girls, they were extremely welcoming and showed enthusiasm about the idea of getting their social media on the rise. Their personalities are hilarious and they have fun filming the content. They get into the videos, have creative ideas, and thank me after we finish filming each TikTok. This group of girls make me laugh, and endure all the weird video ideas I throw at them.
Drab vs. fab
How do you tell when your content is a winner versus when it’s absolute garbage? You don’t! You’re honestly your own worst critic. You’ll stare at it for so long that the words start to feel like they weren’t spelled right. Suddenly, you’re questioning everything. Did you even learn English? Are we POSITIVE you didn’t accidentally swear in the caption? Nothing is safe. But fortunately, that’s just because you’re judging yourself too hard. Shocker.
Not every post is a win. Some graphics people love; some videos go viral; others don’t reach the audience intended and some just need to take one for the team so you get a post out; some content will get praise, and others will get sent back to you with editor notes from the boss. Everyone’s taste is different, at least according to my date when I told him I enjoyed spicy foods…
Cleaning it up
So, now that you’ve endured all the long hours of getting content and researching, what’s next? The long drawn out editing process. Filming is fun, editing is cool, putting it together is exhausting. (A love, hate relationship) You go through each photo, each video, and you clean it up. What do I mean by clean it up? I mean you make that photo pop and edit the heck out of it. Make it crisp. Then you go and you create either your graphic or your video. Next? You post.
Posting… this is when my anxiety peaks. I don’t know about you, but I have posters anxiety to the max. I stare at the content until I pick out every flaw, then fix it, then just tell myself “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, GIRL JUST POST IT! WHO CARES?” me. I care. I type the caption out and I think, is that really creative? I don’t know. I still don’t know. My nightmares consist of me typing captions.
In the end, you’ve stressed yourself out enough that you just shrug it off, and post. No one looks at it as intensely as you do.
The Addiction
When you’re working in social media content creation, you’ll go in thinking it’s not as addictive as being on the other side of the screen getting to enjoy the content. Wrong. So wrong. I am more addicted to researching for my team to gather more ideas. You think you’ll be safe mindlessly scrolling through TikTok or Instagram, but you’re not. It’ll creep up on you. You’ll be giggling and think “We should do this”. BOOM! You’re addicted to creating content. It’s a lot more fun when you’re not the one being filmed.
Every video you see has the possibility to be content for your team. Each post another team puts out inspires you. You’ll even go to sporting events and think their ideas are great ideas, and add it to your mental list of to dos (or your extremely long, forever growing list in your notes app). Personally, I prefer this addiction than obsessing over the flaws I have compared to the Instagram models. Do they even have pores?
The Horrors
Besides the long hours, and the posting anxiety. There aren’t many horrors in the sports social media management world, besides slipping on ice in front of the team. It’s a lot of work, but it’s incredibly fun. Watching your team’s social media presence grow, and the fans’ support, is the pat on the back you needed. The blue light from staring endlessly at your screen will hurt your eyes. You’ll be forcefully kicked out of your comfort zone, don’t worry this pays off. You’ll be haunted by what could’ve been AFTER you’ve already posted it. The best ideas always come after.
Overall, you’ll love and hate it. It’s your baby. You take care of it, and you watch it grow. Congrats, moms!