It goes without saying, but social media has made it easier than ever before to connect with your favorite athlete, musician or actor. No longer do fans have to live vicariously through the questions of reporters — they can easily direct those questions to celebrities all by themselves. When I was a kid, I had to wait in line at a supermarket for three hours just to say hello to Terry Porter. Now that connection can happen anywhere in the world that has a cell signal.
The latest phenomenon social media has brought us is real-time access. From streaming content, live Q & A, logging every move you make through a variety of 'stories' -- the game has changed. Three years ago, posting a highlight within five minutes of it actually happening was a mind-blowing revelation. Nowadays, fans are accustomed, even spoiled, with the access and the immediacy of in-game highlights, snippets from interviews and score updates.
“Social media is really big in our generation,” said Trail Blazers wing Allen Crabbe, who sees potential for opportunities by making himself available. “You never know who’s watching you for the first time and thinking to themselves ‘man, I really like that guy’. The possibilities are endless.”
Crabbe recently fired up Instagram Live for the first time while at a restaurant with his friends.
“We just wanted to see how many views I could get up to. I got up to like 1,100 in like five minutes,” said Crabbe, noting ‘that was nothing’ compared to the views his teammates rack up.
“It’s crazy how quick you see all these comments popping up and all these people logging in to see. It’s cool, man, it gives you another way to connect with fans.”
While streaming live on social media is nothing new — Periscope, a live-streaming function baked in to Twitter, was launched two years ago today — the release of Instagram Live in January has propelled live streaming into a whole new level of popularity.
“It’s just easier,” said point guard Damian Lillard of Instagram Live versus Periscope. “You click two buttons and millions of people are following you live, raw. You can also just step away from it any time with just a click. The convenience makes it that much more valuable.”
Taking Dame’s analysis literally, I did a little investigating. It actually takes four actions (tap or swipe) to go from your home screen to being live on Instagram -- the same amount of actions it takes to get from your home screen to being live on Twitter. There had to be more motivating factors that have led to the Instagram Live craze.
“Twitter was popping’ back in the day, but now Instagram has came and left a big stamp,” said wing Evan Turner, who pointed out that Instagram isn’t above borrowing ideas from other platforms. “They’re running the market. They got monopoly on everything.”
“The platform of Instagram right now is huge. I think that just makes it a little more significant,” added Lillard, who says he checks Instagram, Snapchat then Twitter, in that order. He added that his Facebook page is primarily used for corporate initiatives.
Even for someone that chooses to observe social media rather than participate in it (he calls it “twatching”), Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts has recognized the paradigm shift. “Seems like now everyone has moved to Instagram than Twitter, and people may even just connect their Twitter to their Instagram.”
Crabbe admitted that his social media choices are trend-driven: “Everyone has flocked to Instagram and Snapchat. Every social media has had their time. Before Instagram it was Twitter.”
After acknowledging that “everyone steals ideas from each other” among social networks, Crabbe brought up an original idea that would make streaming live even more attractive to athletes: adding a feature that allows sorting your followers into selective audiences: family, friends and fans.
In addition to ease-of-use and popularity, there’s one more factor that makes Instagram Live the more attractive streaming option: the videos aren’t archived.
“That’s most important,” says Turner, who was recently blessed with a Terry Stotts video bomb during an Instagram Live stream on the team plane.
But just as the screenshot above illustrates, nothing is ever truly private on the internet.
“They say pictures on Snapchat don’t save — but they do,” said Lillard, one of the most sage social media users in the NBA. “Even being able to DM on Instagram, it can still be screenshot. I’m aware of that in text message conversations, too.”
“People have learned their lessons. You’re not seeing those moments on social media anymore like you did when Twitter first came out,” Stotts added. “Players continually become more savvy, more knowledgable about social media.”
When asked the impact social media would have had on players in Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley’s era, Stotts was quick to respond: “It’s different times, but those guys are smart guys, too. They would have adjusted to social media (if they needed to).”
Even though the chance of detriment looms large whenever the red light is blinking, Stotts says he does not discourage players from going live on social media, reiterating the savviness of this roster.
His star player is fully aware of the potential ramifications.
“You gotta be conscious, you gotta coach yourself up,” said Lillard. “You gotta understand that Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat… it’s all the internet. And you can’t trust the internet.”
While accessibility is at an all-time high, awareness of the risk that comes with the accessibility is not lost on these athletes.
“You never know, the feds could be recording you,” said Crabbe with his trademark ear-to-ear grin.