If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve heard me talk about Twitter.   Even if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard about Twitter through some other source.  Many major news stations, radio stations, newspapers, celebrities, and softball people are ALL on Twitter.

Now you have another reason to jump into the fun – COLLEGE.

Earlier this week, ESPN published an article about how colleges and college coaches are tapping into social networks like Twitter and Facebook for recruiting and exposure.

Some coaches use Twitter as a way to allow fans and potential recruits to see what the program/coach is like.  Others utilize it as a way to “stay in front” of a recruits face (and at the forefront of their minds) without breaking NCAA contact period rules.  According to the article:

“Currently, the NCAA allows coaches to direct-message recruits from Twitter or send them a private message on Facebook.”

If you’re looking to attend college and play sports – this is HUGE!!!

Like me, there are coaches out there who prefer Twitter over Facebook “mostly because of the ease of posting.”   Of course, there are others like my husband who prefer Facebook because there are more pictures and it’s similar to MySpace which he’s already familiar with.  Twitter does have a different sort of layout/format and does take a little while to get used to, but once you do, you’ll love it!

The ESPN article also talks about why Twitter is so super popular:

“It’s the reason why USA Today worked. It’s the reason why people want to see the ticker on ESPN. [People] don’t want large bites. Give me a small bite; make it fast, I’ll see what it is, I’ll laugh and I’ll move on to something else.”

Another important point…

“The one thing I like is that it’s a little bit of an unobstructed view,” Calipari said. “They (fans/recruits) get to know what you are and how you are and how you think without someone telling them who you are, what you are and how you think.”

So you don’t have to take someone’s word for it. You have a way to judge for yourself what a program or coach is like. This is a very important part of choosing the right college for yourself or helping your child do so.

Signing up for Twitter is super easy…

1.  Go to Twitter.com and click on the green Get Started – Join! button at the bottom of the screen.

2.  Fill out the fields on the next page and click Create My Account

3.  Choose the options you want on the following pages (add contacts from e-mail or follow suggested users) and you’re all done!

Once you’re in, here are some softball coaches you can follow…

AuburnSBCoach

coachjaymiller

UFCoachWalton

UACoachMurphy

…and you’ll probably also want to check out the other cool softball people I listed in this post and this post.

Happy Tweeting!