By Akeem Glaspie
Intern at The Oakland (Mich.) Press
Southern Illinois University graduate
APSE student member
DETROIT — As social media continues to evolve over time, it is important for sports writers to communicate effectively while maintaining their voice over several different platforms.
In an APSE Conference workshop Thursday lead by Tommy Deas (The Tuscaloosa News), panelists Robert Gagliardi (WyoSports), Joe Rexrode (Detroit Free Press) and Drew Sharp (Detroit Free Press) discussed finding their voice as writers and how they became comfortable with expressing their opinions.
Engagement
Rexrode said, when writing a blog he likes to keep his posts conversational to allow for engagement from viewers. While a blog post might not be printed in a writer’s publication he said it is important for posts to remain factual and to avoid rambling. Engaging with people on social media can be a good way to build a connection with your readers, but beware of the social media “trolls” who only want to attack writers with rude or vulgar tweets/posts.
Perspective
For beat writers, a weekly column used to be the only place they could express their opinion. Now a tweet or blog post can allow readers to discover the person behind the game stories. Gagliardi uses his blog to give a different perspective on something he’s written. Finding something that is important, but doesn’t necessarily need to be in the printed paper and offer a new angle to the story.
Find Yourself
If you’re funny in real life, be funny on twitter. If you tell terrible jokes, think twice before hitting send on that tweet you think is so clever. But as Sharp said, it is important to be comfortable with your voice as a writer and stand by whatever you send out into the social media ether.
“Give yourself time to find your voice, be comfortable with yourself and don’t get discouraged. Find your voice and it will define you as a writer,” Sharp said.
