Thursday, March 24, 2016

LeBron James caught unfollowing the Cavaliers on Twitter and Instagram

This week, the big story in the sports world has been LeBron James. No, it's not because of his play on the court. It's not because he signed another lucrative endorsement deal. No, instead LeBron James was in the news for unfollowing his own team's Twitter and Instagram accounts. Yes, that was big news.

Now I don't want to get into the potential reasons why LeBron would do this or what message he is trying to send by doing this. But I do want to talk about LeBron's reaction to questions about this story. On Monday, after twitter user @kanyecobain discovered that James had unfollowed the Cavaliers, the media asked LeBron about it. His response was a smug "no comment." He then ended his press conference.

Yes, the greatest athlete of our generation could not answer a question about who he follows on Twitter. I'm sorry LeBron, but you have to be better than that. Your twitter account has 29 million followers. You use it to endorse products, talk to fans, and ultimately grow your brand. The point of Twitter is to interact with people, and you have used it to your full advantage. So don't get upset, or act like it is a silly question, when the media asks why you, the best player in the NBA, unfollowed your current team's account. You can't have it both ways.

LeBron James and all celebrities know by now that whatever you do on social media will be scrutinized by fans and the media. It is the price that comes with the fame. Don't act like you are above questions about your Twitter account.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

March Madness bracket leak shows the power of the internet

On Sunday afternoon, CBS was set to televise the unveiling the 2016 NCAA tournament bracket. CBS has always hosted the bracket reveal, but this year was different. What was once just a thirty-minute program, this year was schedule for two full hours.

As expected, the show dragged on and on. With the matchups slowly being revealed, Charles Barkley and other analysts painfully struggled to break down the games with a touch screen. The show was a disaster. Luckily, that is where the internet came in to save the day. About 50 minutes into the program, a bracket leaked online. Within minutes, the bracket spread like wildfire on Twitter. While most users were unsure if the bracket was legitimate, as more and more teams were revealed on the broadcast it became clear that it was the real bracket. Social media users rejoiced as nobody had to sit through another excruciating hour of CBS' coverage.

While the NCAA and CBS wanted to milk the bracket reveal for as much TV revenue as possible, no college basketball fans were interested in sitting for two hours just to learn the bracket. That is why it was awesome to see the Internet stick it to the greedy NCAA and their TV partners on Sunday. It was almost like a victory for the "little guy." The arrogance and conceit of CBS and the NCAA came back to haunt them, for once.

Hopefully CBS and the NCAA learn from this past Sunday. I'd imagine that next year, CBS will go back to just a one hour program. But for this past weekend, the internet got the chance to to sabotage them, and they did.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

The Top 10 Vines from the 2016 Presidential Race

Disclaimer: This is not a political post. Regardless of whether you lean left or right, support Hillary or Trump, believe America is doomed or about to be "great again," I think we can all agree that the race to the White House has been pretty darn entertaining. It seems like every other day someone (usually Trump) is saying or doing something ridiculous on the campaign trail. And thanks to social media, we all can relive and laugh at these moments. So without further adieu, here are my top 10 vines from the 2016 Presidential campaign:

10) "More energy tonight I like that"

9) Jeb and Trump's low five

8) Bernie's side eyes

7) Hillary is chillin' in Cedar Rapids

6) Bernie plays the bongos

5) Ben Carson addresses his haters

4) Please clap for Jeb

3) Chris Christie realizes he endorsed Donald Trump

2) When you decide who you're voting for

1) Ted Cruz or Kevin Malone?

The internet is a wonderful place.