The Problems with the White Sox Social Media
We all have shared frustrations with the White Sox, but there is one specific frustration that I am extremely passionate about- their social media. Today I’m going to explain to you what is wrong, why it’s wrong and what they can do to fix it. So please stay with me, learn a thing or two and let me speak my peace.
The Tweet That Did It
Alright, I’ve seemed to become the Romy Gonzalez girl. Part of it’s a bit but I mean it’s rooted in some reality.
I have been praying Romy will finally get better while others have just been wishing he’d do something for this team. So regardless we’ve been hoping he’d get out of this slump. And he did! It was exciting! The first thing he’s done since April. Surely they’d tweet about that? Nah.
That’s it? That’s the best they can do? I’m done. Release the manifesto.
Why Me?
Now what makes me qualified to critique their social media? An engineer dropout turned TikTok star who shotguns beer online? As much as I want you all to keep thinking that’s all I am, I’ll pull back the curtain a bit to my “career” on social media.
Social Media Management/Marketing is such a new job that universities are just barely starting curriculum on it. So even if I had my degree, how could you tell I’m good at it? I mean, hey, my numbers don’t lie… but neither do certifications. That’s right I got the papers! I got the receipts!
I don’t think a lot of people know how much knowledge I have in this game. Credited by mostly Google and Meta, I’m certified in:
- Social Media Marketing and Management
- Digital Marketing & E-commerce & SEO
- Marketing & Data Analytics
- UX Design & Project Management
- Have you stopped reading yet?
And MORE. I put in that work, and I know my stuff god dammit! I grew SouthSide Behavior from nothing to over 10k within months from knowing the fundamentals and that’s where we start.
White Sox Fundamentals
The main two issues that directly cause other major problems are 2 key fundamentals you learn almost immediately in any social media course: Brand Personality and Brand Voice.
Brand Personality are human characteristics that you attribute to the brand name. Examples from some companies; Harley Davidson has a ruggedness vibe. Coca Cola’s tagline is “a coke and a smile.” They come across as carefree and fun loving. Nike is inspirational and motivated.
It’s characteristics that represent who their audience is or who they aspire to be. Reflect on the White Sox with that one. Do you see yourself in the White Sox accounts?
Brand Voice is how they communicate their personality. How they would talk to their target audience based on what their personality is like. Harley Davidson speaks to their audience like they’re part of the gang. Coca Cola interacts with a positive attitude. Nike has “just do it.” They are straight to the point and assertive with what they put out.
The White Sox talk like… a robot? I’m not even sure!
The 108 Gets It
I think the White Sox are confused on what they are which causes them to come off as a faceless corporation. I have a hunch of why that is, but this becomes a domino effect for every other place they fail and lack. Brand voice and personality is a huge problem.
A good example to further explain is From the 108. Their personality is sort of a “we’re here for a good time and a long time. Let’s drink some beer, talk some baseball, and do some bullshit.” Inviting, one of us, fun. Brand voice is easy going and joking but still very real. Speaking like a true fan in every aspect.
Unlike the 108 who sit with us fans (literally), the White Sox do not appeal to their fanbase in the slightest. The White Sox are naive in a way, tweeting the facts with bland statements like “Way to go!” “He had a night!” I’m surprised they haven’t thrown in a “Hooray for us!”
Become a Southsider
I personally think they should become a southsider. Chicago’s blue collar fans that are tough, dedicated, passionate, and love to have a good time. We make the most out of our situation. There’s a lot of room to work with this concept.
And furthermore, they should sit down and completely make up a southside fan narrative with attributes, qualities, where they work, who they hang out with, what their interests are. Seriously, because that is a literal technique that is used to build a brand. Then become that fan, talk like that, post like that.
A solid direction of content should be trying to bring out that southside personality in the team. The players don’t have to adopt the personality, but find something in them that we find relatable. Even if they’re completely different from this personality, find something that’s just interesting to see from a southside POV.
The Youth
Now I can’t say they’re not trying at all. Mainly those of you reading this see their Twitter, but their TikTok is actually trying a bit. But I gotta be honest it’s very bland, very mid. They do short interviews with players that lack any energy and are overproduced. They use trendy sounds that are just expected. They play it very safe over there.
So what can they do to make it more interesting? Look at the other local accounts! Let’s take the Blackhawks TikTok for example. It is very clearly run by a younger crowd who the players are very friendly with and know them very well. Those that run the account are clearly obsessed with the team, genuine fans!
It’s very candid and witty, not just posting just because they have to. They think of brilliant ideas and bring good vibes. They even get the players to participate in trends with them. They give the people what they want.
A good idea is to follow this model. Get a younger crowd who *gets* it to run around and make it fun. Do you know how many times I see in the Blackhawks comments “you guys make me wanna be a fan.” If the Blackhawks can do that in a TANK YEAR then you can certainly do it this year White Sox. I seriously recommend you check them out.
Make it Interesting
Not every single piece of content has to have an agenda or meaning. Like goddamn, I’m still entertained by Dylan Cease explaining how colors work to Jake Burger last year. It was weird and interesting, but it’s also ENTERTAINING.
If you have a social media team, tell them to ditch the thousand dollar camera, get out there, whip out that iPhone and record. You need to have a fun social media team designed to work on connecting to fans on platforms that are literally designed to connect with fans.
Start with the clubhouse! I wanna see Liam talk about his Legos because that’s something about him that he loves and that we find interesting. I hear they play dominos, is this true? Get us the scoop! That’s INTERESTING. In one video they were blasting music over Vaughn talking post game, who was on aux? That song was a banger! Let us get to know them, give us something to expand some White Sox lore and get us excited about them.
Bring Back the Vibes
I love when I see a happy video about the Sox. Frankly in this economy, that’s what we as Sox fans SHOULD want to see. At the very least to make sure they’re not dead. I mean if they’re bad I at least want to see that they’re all not lying down, depressed, and unmotivated about it.
I miss the fun team and the good vibes. Seeing them smile means they’re at least happy to be there. They care about playing. We might not be satisfied with what’s on the field but maybe a team that gets along is better than one that doesn’t. And a PSA, when User1839302926 comments “why are they laughing!! He needs to focus on pitching!” Just shut up. That’s right, shut up.
I don’t know if you know this but Jimmy Lambert doesn’t run the White Sox TikTok account. Surely the person who does isn’t gonna knock on Jimmy’s door and tell him what you said. You’re screaming into a void. Try journaling (or podcasting) your anger out. It’s more productive.
The Hunch
Part of me believes their social media team is simply just not allowed to do any of this. That’s where I start to shift from blaming their team to blaming the White Sox organization.
I don’t know for sure, but it feels like the approval process for what’s allowed to be posted is dated. The social media team is there to get the content and post it with context in a timely manner. In game time scenarios they come off as generic and lacking that context of what the hell is going on in the game or with the team in general.
Why is it like this? I have a gut feeling there is probably a corporate censorship of what can and cannot be posted because whoever is in charge can’t fathom trusting a social media manager to do, I don’t know, the job you hired them to do?
That’s why I believe the game video captions on Twitter are so bleh because they don’t have time for someone to say “yes that’s appropriate.” Bro you’ve hired this person. You should’ve hired them because you trust their expertise, their knowledge, their timing. Allow them to create fun, timely and appropriate responses that can be within the context of the situation or surrounding the circumstances of the game.
Sheets hit a home run after an absolute dog shit call and you’re gonna say “Holy Sheets” for the 100th time? Surely there is something better you can come up with in those circumstances.
Ya Silly Gooses!
They should also take a look at other teams’ social media managers. How about our division rivals whose teams aren’t exactly the cream of the crop in this league either?
The best thing about many teams’ social media is they say “us.” WE! They acknowledge that they’re just some people running the account, not the organization. See that! It ain’t gotta be so corporate. You can goof around and be some silly gooses!
A Solution
If this is all true, I’ll give my personal advice on how you can appease your corporate overlords. Stuff you also learn out the gate in this field. One thing they teach you right away is to keep a content calendar. Planning what you need to film a week or 2 in advance. Constantly introducing new ideas. No matter how silly or crazy they seem.
All you can do here is prepare. Sit down before the game and think of all possibilities that could happen in relation to recent events with the team. If you gotta get approval, well there you go.
How I grew SouthSide Behavior is 2-3 times a week I save TikTok audios and document trends on every platform to use in split second decisions. I keep an eye on fans and their attitudes and language. Having keywords ready to use. I have backups for when we win and when we lose. And overall just try not to be too serious with it and get creative.
Just Be a Fan
At the end of the day, be a fan. Get in our heads. What are we thinking and feeling in that moment and in these times, and then emulate that. If we’re mad, sad, happy or whatever, you should be too and respond in a way that can say “yeah we feel you.”
I can only feel sorry if this process and protocols are true. If so it causes the lack of creative freedom for anyone working for their social media. When you have the chance with such a unique audience and an opportunity to make some really great stuff and can’t, it’s sad and discouraging to them as someone in this field. That’s why it’s so frustrating to me and I get so passionate about this.
To the social media team out there, my advice is this. Be your brand. Be real. Humanize this team. Be us.
To others: maybe we should give them some grace because surely they hired someone qualified for this job (or at least we hope so) and they’re dropping the ball with them. But based on some hires within the organization we honestly can’t tell, they could just suck.
Having a great social media presence really makes a difference to fans. It even brings others to the team. SouthSide Behavior followers are not just White Sox fans. I get other fan bases to follow because they just like what I put out. Now they know everything happening with the White Sox. It puts us out there and grows our game.
But until they make changes, we have to accept that we have a ‘meh’ social media team that is just, at the end of the day, not cool. And especially alienates fans. So I guess in the meantime we’ve gotta feel seen through each other on social media.
-Missy
About The Author
Good stuff Miss!
That was some really good writing and ideas . If I was I. Charge I would of hired you in a second to take over any social media
Awesome!