Digital media has changed the sports world forever. Numerous apps now provide updates and results for people who are unable to watch a game live. However, users should look out for the potentially misleading information that comes with them
Digital sports media has some negatives and positives. One major negative is the potential for false rumors to spread easily. For example, when Tom Brady was considering retirement, many people were getting information from people who were not reporters or his agent. They weren’t fact-checking that their information was correct before publishing statements on social media. I am not telling people to avoid digital sources for sports media but I would like them to keep this information when looking at these sources.
Some more potential negatives are that sources might withhold information about a game. An example is when the benches clear in baseball. When the benches clear, ESPN hides the detailed information of what happened. Knowing that the benches cleared might make a viewer at the game understand it differently than someone who only saw the box score on the app. It kills the mood as one team might have a rally going because of it or someone might be thrown out. ESPN hides information that will make you understand the game more. Viewers want to have a clear understanding of the information about the game. This is not a huge negative but one users should look out for.
Also, people might not look at the live feed they will watch the highlights and keep an eye on the box score. To get the box scores, people look at newspapers, radio shows, and TV shows to get the box scores and the highlights, but you can also go on ESPN for both of those. When you don’t watch the game live you miss out on the important information. When you just look at the score you will not get the information that led to the final score. You should always watch highlights or watch the game live to know the bigger story behind it.
The positives of these apps are that we get information that tells users what’s happening during a game when someone is not listening to it or watching it. A way that they tell people what is happening live is through the play-by-play section. This section is a lifesaver for me when I want to know what is happening during the game. A source that has all that I described is ESPN. It is a positive because they connect with their audience and get them interested in watching a game. ESPN tells the audience the percentage of the team to win during a game, and it changes periodically throughout the game.
In her article, “The Impact of Social Media and Digital Media on Sports,” Narrelle Harris states that “ from live-tweeting games, creating snarky memes and spectators are no longer simply watching sport.” By the fans doing all these things, they are no longer watching the sport live anymore. They are just getting their information from a spectator that is watching the game. The memes that are getting posted are telling what is funny about what a player is doing. By all of these, they have a negative impact on sports.
By sports media changing, sports organizations are now telling their stories directly on their channel for their fans to read. By being on social media, the fans might give their opinions about them doing interviews with the players and the coaches. This is great but they also may be unsure what to share or be less than truthful because they don’t want to lose their fans or make them upset.
Some organizations have to keep up with their competition with sports media changing. They have to give out information that their readers will understand more. In the end, sports and digital media have changed in both some positive and some negative ways.
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