by Erecca Nacion
It has become relevant that social media has increasingly affected
the sports world and the viewing experiences. Sports are becoming more social
due to the increasingly popularity of Twitter. However, Twitter isn’t the only
app out that are creating more real – time in – gam interaction in sports
media. Smartphone applications for Android and iPhone are becoming major sources
for fan interaction such as:
- SportsYapper (@SportsYapper) is very similar to Twitter, however it is only focused on the discussion of sports. A user must decide which games specifically they wish to talk about by “Yapping” 300 characters at a time. By tapping “Game On!” into the game you are currently viewing, the user is informing their friends what game they are viewing. This allows a conversation to begin between the user and their followers.
- FanCake (@Kwartr) is a live social game that gives sports enthusiasts the opportunity to earn tickets, and merchandise. Within the live game, a live chat feed is allowed between fans to share comments and photos during the game while medals are rewarded, and predictions pop up.
- Thuuz (@thuuz) analyzes live sporting events to determines the most exciting sporting events on a scale from 0 – 100. The application allows users to personalize their real – time in – game interaction by identifying your favorite teams and sports. Users are also given details about scores, stats, recaps and highlights of their favorite games, as well as a notification of when a game gets to a level of excitement.
- PlayUp (@PlayUpUSA) is a social “hangout” for friends and family to message each other for free while watching a game. PlayUp offers real – time in – game interaction stats and scoring with an option to create private chat rooms with selected friends and family or to make a public conversation with other sports enthusiast around the world.
- Fanatix (@therealfanatix) is a London – based social TV application that offers live sports platforms for sports enthusiasts. Fanatix integrates Twitter feeds that are mentioning the current sporting event that a user may be watching. It also allows a user to connect with and make friends with those that “checked – in” the same game that the user is in. Fanatix also allows live chats with friends and other sports enthusiasts.
- GrabFan (@GrabFan) allows users to bet with other user about the outcome of sporting events. GrabFan allows users game credits that can be cashed in for tickets and merchandise. A user must select any sporting event and create a prediction via Facebook integration to friends or other GrabFan users. Here is a video that explains GrabFan more: What is GrabFan?
Sporting events are no longer limited to just watching a
game at home, at a friends or family’s house, at a bar or even in an arena.
Sports enthusiasts are able to interact with other fans all over world that are
currently watching the same game. Most of the applications mentioned above deal
with the integration of Twitter where sports enthusiasts are able to gather
together to make a bet, to predict, chat, and discuss. With the success of
Twitter and these applications, TV viewing of sporting events have become more
social than ever before and interaction among fans have been made immediate and
constant.
Bloom, T. (2012). Six
Apps Making Sports Viewing More Social . Retrieved from SportTechie:
http://www.sporttechie.com/2012/07/13/six-apps-158/
GrabVids. (2012). What
is GrabFan? Retrieved from YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG_Dh1B4Agg#action=share
Hello Erreca,
ReplyDeleteThis post was very helpful. After reading all the apps that you mentioned, I was most interested in the app called SportsYapper. The app caught my attention and I actually downloaded it on my phone myself. I agree that this app is similar to Twitter, however you can post your thoughts during the game with 300 characters instead of Twitter’s 140 character limit. What is also interesting about this app is that the score is right there for you to see.
-Jessica Cruz