College Athletics & New Media: College AD Talks With Jonathan Gantt

Technology is everywhere we look. It shapes our daily lives and interactions and it’s shaping college athletics too. To gain a better understanding of how exactly technology, more specifically social media and the internet are shaping college athletics, College AD consulted one of the top minds in the industry. Last week, I had chance to talk with Clemson University’s Director of New and Creative Media, Jonathan Gantt, about how not only Clemson, but the sports information industry as a whole is able to use technology to tell the great stories that sports information directors have been telling for years. It’s also a great opportunity to show how these social media gurus are sharing what they know with student-athletes and other professionals across the country on college sports and new media.

College AD: What is new and creative media?

Jonathan Gantt: New and creative media is everything digital. I oversee digital strategy, that’s everything we do on our websites and social media. My role is to make sure that we are staying on top of the latest and greatest ways to communicate with our fans. We are storytellers and that’s never going to change. Maybe Twitter, Instagram or Facebook aren’t around in 10 years but we are still going to need to communicate well. That’s always going to be what we do. Whatever the platform is, the platforms will change over time but the core principals of our job, good storytelling will stay the same. It’s important to note that we are a part of a sports information department, but we now just have a different way we do our jobs everyday.

CAD: Recently, the industry has witnessed a shift. Sports information departments have become marketing departments within athletic departments, so College AD wanted find out how this shift has affected Sports Information Professionals and the offices they run. How has the role of the Sports Information Director changed?

JG: Traditionally SIDs are on site all the time at every event, working long hours but it was still a job that nobody really understood. But as society has changed the value of what sports information directors provide has also changed. As technology has become more affordable and distribution channels through social media have been created, it has has created an opportunity to directly talk to the people that you want to talk to. Creating content has become the focus. Sports information departments have always done tons to help not only the athletic department but the university. They’ve always been great record keepers and are the historical archives of the athletic department. SIDs are still doing these things but are now putting more of an emphasis on promoting student-athletes. There has been a big shift. But I think it’s just an opportunity for the people who have always done great work. Sports information departments have become more valuable than they’ve ever been. SIDs are a lot more visible now.

CAD: The internet is filled with cautionary tales of people incorrectly using social media. Perhaps that is why earlier this summer, the Clemson football program made headlines when it was discovered that the Tigers had a ban on using social media. (For the record, the ban is self imposed by players and has been in use for the past 4 seasons. Student-athletes are allowed on social media sites, just not allowed to post on those sites.) Why was there such a strong reaction from outsiders after the ban was announced?

JG: I can’t speak for other people as to why there was that kind of reaction. But I think it is really important for people to know we have coaches and staff who put incredible amounts of time and energy into the personal development of student-athletes.

CAD: What kind of education has been put in place to teach not only student-athletes but staff as well about proper social media usage and behavior?

JG: The development of student-athletes off the field is just as important, if not more important than the development on the field. Once a semester we have a social media training and education session. One of the things we do is teach them how to use social media effectively and walk them through the opportunities and pitfalls of social media. You have to be smart when using social media because there are very real consequences people have had to deal with for not using it properly. It’s a top priority for us to develop our student-athletes as people. Social media education and training in one of the elements of that development.

CAD: Do you see any changes upcoming that may affect the industry like social media has?

JG: I’ll say this, it goes back to what we were talking about previously. The core of what we do in college athletics will not change, just the way we do it will. Take Snapchat for example, it has become a big thing over the last several years. So there will be something else that comes along and maybe the things we use today we won’t be using as much in 3-5 years. But the point is, everyday we are looking at how we can provide the best value back to our coaches and student-athletes. The industry is constantly changing, the world is constantly changing and technology is constantly changing so we need to be constantly changing. The industry has totally changed in the last 10 years and who knows, it will probably change again in the next 10 years.

 

Feature image via Twin Design / Shutterstock.com