Michigan Paints Twitter Hashtag on Field for Spring Game

This isn’t meant to be a history lesson on social media, but there is little doubt social media has changed the way people interact with each other on a daily basis.  It has not only become part of many people’s everyday lives, but it has also changed the way fans interact with their favorite teams and vice versa.

Case in point, Michigan has added the twitter hashtag #goblue to its field in the Big House for their spring game which is happening this Saturday, April 14th,in Ann Arbor (above photo complements of Michigan Football on WhoSay).

For those not yet adapt in the world of Twitter, what exactly is a hashtag?  Twitter defines it as:   The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

In plain English, by placing the # symbol within a tweet, it allows users to categorize a particular tweet when discussing a similar topic.  In Michigan’s case, people tweeting about the spring game can include the hashtag #goblue and others can then see all the comments about the game even from those they are not following individually on Twitter.

Michigan isn’t stopping there, however.  They will also include a “TweetBoard” on the stadium’s jumbotron featuring tweets using the #goblue hashtag during the game.  Michigan will monitor and approve the tweets in real time for fans in the stadium to follow what’s being said on twitter.  They have also partnered with an outside firm, Buzz Manager, Inc. to audit the hashtag for them.

And that’s not all, they’ve also created a #goblue twitter contest.  To enter, users must follow Michigan’s official football twitter account (@umichfootball) and then include them in a tweet which also uses the #goblue hashtag.  Winners will be selected at random on April 13th (the contest doesn’t run during the actual game) with the grand prize being two tickets to Michigan’s game against Michigan State on October 20th.

Remember when you went to a football game (in this case, a football scrimmage) to watch the actual game?  Technology is great, but man, it almost makes me miss the days of football past, or something like that.

Twitter won’t be the only way for fans to get involved, either.  You may notice Michigan’s spring game is officially called Mott Spring Game Presented by PNC Bank.  Mott refers to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and while the spring game is free to visitors, they can make a donation which will benefit the kids at the hospital.  Each gift made by fans attending the game, will also be matched by the Beam Family of Brighton, Michigan, who are obviously big supporters of a great cause.

 

Around the Web
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