海角大神

As Super听Bowl week kicks off Sunday with the Pro Bowl playoff in听Hawaii, the NFL is hoping to kick up its ratings with the听announcement that players will now be allowed to Tweet from the sidelines during the game.

The league has a strict policy against using social media during playtime听for the regular听season games, but as spokesman Jon Zimmer听said from听Honolulu听where the game will be played, 鈥淲e are always looking for ways to experiment with new ideas.鈥�

鈥淭his game is a good听venue for us to try out some new things,鈥� he said.

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To be sure, social media has exploded as a way to connect fans and players more directly. But while the move may make sense from a marketing point of view, some critics question the intrusion of听more social media opportunities into a professional game setting.听听

"I don't think this is a good idea,鈥� says Kelly Lux, the Online Community Manager at the听School听of听Information Studies at听Syracuse听University听in听New York, and host of Community Manager Chat.

The players are there to play football, she says via email, 鈥渘ot to Tweet.鈥�

鈥淭heir focus needs to be on the game,鈥� she says. 鈥淎sking or encouraging them to participate in a conversation on Twitter would take their head out of the game."
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听For now, this new policy is strictly relegated to the annual all-star game. There is a clear firewall between听what will be allowed for this听singular event and policies about Twitter and other social media during the normal season,听Mr. Zimmer points out. And the routine for tweeting during the game this Sunday will be tightly controlled.听听

Players will be allowed to stop by computers set up on the 20-yard line听and tap听out a 140 character shout-out to fans 鈥� under听the听vigilant eyes of NFL representatives.

鈥淣othing will go out that hasn鈥檛 been checked first,鈥� says Zimmer,听who adds, 鈥淥bviously, they are not allowed to be doing this if they have any on-field听duties.鈥�

The players may not linger and听only one player can be tapping and tweeting at a time.听This does not affect the NFL鈥檚 current policy of no personal devices on the field. Players may tweet from the locker room during half-time, but 鈥渢hey have to leave their own devices behind when they come back out,鈥� says Zimmer.

Enthusiasts听of the power of social media to amplify the sporting experience听applaud this experiment.

鈥淭his is an all-star game,鈥� points out David Brody, head of marketing for PlayUp, a social networking app that connects sports fans through private and public group messaging as they follow sporting events in real-time.

鈥淭he entire point of the day is to entertain the fans,鈥� he adds, pointing out that the Pro Bowl has moved its venue and date several times over the past few years. 鈥淭he NFL needs to do whatever it can to build awareness.鈥�

But some critics point out that even as a marketing ploy, the move to more social media is a misstep.

鈥淭here are marketing and public relations ploys that makes sense, but this decision by the NFL is hard to comprehend,鈥� says John Goodman, a former听TV producer who now runs his own public relations firm, adding that the decision shows what 鈥渟illy things smart people will do to try to gain attention and TV ratings.鈥�

He doubts the move will help ratings.听Ever since the advent of the Super Bowl, he says, the Pro Bowl听has been the 鈥渓east meaningful of all the professional sports all-star games since it happens at the end of the season when no one cares who鈥檚 playing, or who wins.鈥�

The attempt to attract a younger听demographic by expanding social media exposure, says Mr. Goodman,听听 is 鈥渁 silly public relations ploy that鈥檚 also a turn-off to most true NFL fans above the age of 16.鈥�

鈥淎n already silly game, just got sillier,鈥� he says.

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