Oilogosphere

The battle goes on…and on: Bloggers and MSM

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Great story about bloggers came out recently. Tyler Dellow of mc79hockey.com did some excellent research into some old emails between NHL Senior VP and Director of Hockey Operations, Colin Campbell and NHL Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom. These emails became public because of a wrongful dismissal case involving former NHL referee Dean Warren and the league. Within the emails, Dellow was able to uncover some of Campbell’s attitudes towards specific players, as well as his concern with calls made against his son, who plays in the league.

Dellow’s article can be found here.

Here’s TSN’s take on Dellow’s findings.

Dellow’s interview on The Score: http://video.thescore.com/watch/glenn-schiiler-one-on-one-with-tyler-dellow

Needless to say, Dellow got a tonne of attention for the great work he did. Whether or not you care about the findings of his research, the fact is he took the time without any monetary motivation and on his own time, to decipher through documents. He raised some really interesting questions about the league and how it handles its referees. All of this is public information. He just took the time to work with it.

Aside from questioning whether or not Campbell should keep his job, a lot is being discussed about the relationship between bloggers and MSM. Talk of how one is better than the other or how bloggers will take over the jobs of MSM, to me, is a big stretch. Questions have been raised about why it took a blogger to dig out this stuff and what role sports journalists have.

Real World vs Online Community

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Hockey fans definitely have an online community. But what exactly does it mean to be online? It used to conjure up ideas of being in a separate world, away from existence and in solitude from others. It was a distant place with its own rules and protocols. And of the few that ventured online, barely any would give away their real name or personal information. The real world was where we were physically, while the digital world was out there.

But with more people participating online and the advancement of communication technology, the two worlds, ‘real’ and online, are overlapping. Mobile technology keeps us connected from anywhere, making it harder to leave one and go to the other.

We remain connected online, even with no terminal to access it from. We don’t need to be sitting on a laptop or even a mobile device to be online. Our personal information, comments, contributions and ideas are other there in the digital realm being read, commented on and shared. We don’t just leave a mark on the internet. Our mark is active and in continuous flow even when we’re disconnected.

Having this overlap is beneficial for those who have ideas to share. These ideas are able to be magnified and extended to an audience. Because of social media and the ability to connect to anyone and their ideas/contribution, at anytime, there is a greater opportunity for the extension of these ideas. When like-minded individuals interact in this dynamic environment for ideas, a community is formed online. A major strength of these online communities is the fact that they are always connected regardless of time and space. The marks that are left by participants, whether or not they actually contribute, have the potential to be significant and are in an environment that allows ideas to be constantly exchanged.

Bloggers vs MSM

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Some interesting discussion (Wyshynski, Mendes) about the whole mainstream media (MSM) versus bloggers topic lately. MSM would include the big networks such as TSN, Sportsnet, ESPN, etc. Bloggers would include those not employed by these networks and do not have the support of a corporation (check out the blogroll). We’ve seen recently some MSM types get into the blogging world and vice versa. But for the most part, an individual is perceived to be in one camp or the other.

MSM relies on the traditional model of information development. Information is created, distributed and then consumed by the customer. With internet technology and the development of social media, we’ve seen a major shift in this information development. Bloggers have emerged as they not only consume this information but then they use it to create their own content.

More recently however, these bloggers have taken it one step further and begun developing their own method of actually creating information. Instead of reading the boxcar stats for a game in the paper the next day, they’ll watch a game and analyze it themselves to determine their own stats. They can then aggregate this information, share it with an online community, and then have discussions to build on it even more.

A tension has developed between the two sides. Bloggers can be pretty critical of the MSM’s work and demand more from the regular reports available. Bloggers, on the other hand, tend to be viewed as those living in the confines of their parents basement without a real understanding of the game. Both have their strengths and weaknesses in terms of content and tend to feel separated from the other. There’s talk of how blogging could one day replace MSM to cover sports. But as long as professional sports remains the object of analysis, it’s hard to see this happening. It’s a powerful industry, includes large organizations and million dollar players. It’s a well oiled machine that has norms and practices in place, making it difficult to change. The information and data that comes from this can have major ramifications for individuals, organizations and the industry as a whole. How it works now, with official media covering the games, is what works best for the industry and their stakeholders.

Bloggers have grown in prominence and the quality of work is pretty remarkable. They are replacing MSM as the source of information and analysis for a lot of fans. But as long as professional sports is the topic, MSM will always have a role. There’s still value in their work but they have to recognize that blogging and getting into these online fan communities is going to be important for their success.

Oilers vs Oilogosphere!

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Greg Wyshynski of the Puck Daddy blog broke a story regarding bloggers and their role covering NHL teams. According to Wyshynski, teams that do not grant any bloggers press credentials such as the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers, have requested that bloggers from other cities not be given access to their players. As it stands right now, a blogger covering the Washington Capitals does have access to the Oilers when they visit DC. Some interesting discussion happening online (Staples) about this including what the difference is between a journalist and a blogger.

Teams like the Oilers have the option and can choose what best suits their business goals. Unfortunately, shutting out all bloggers reduces the amount of information they can possibly use and share with their fans. Giving these bloggers access also gives a new perspective on the game and could potentially generate some new ideas. The blogs out there really represent the demand hockey fans have. For example, points and assist statistics are great, but fans want a lot more statistical analysis.

But is it best that they remain out of the mainstream press box and stay in their parents basement? If the Oilers were to grant them access, would it change the bloggers relationship with their own fans? What if a new set of bloggers emerges scrutinizing the now mainstream bloggers work?

If bloggers are granted press credentials at games, there might be some interesting ramifications. For one, their relationship with their own fan base would change. Becoming a part of the mainstream media panel could change the way their perceived. Instead of being that accessible individual, they may be seen as “one of them”. This could change how bloggers are received and if their work grants merit.

Also, their perceived motivations could drastically change. A blogger tends to function on intrinsic motivation. They do things for self-satisfcation, without the need for financial rewards. Becoming a part of the MSM segment might change the perceived motivation. The demand on them will be from external factors and may significantly increase. This in turn may discourage them or alter their blogging activity.

In my opinion, bloggers should be granted press credentials. Of course, not every single person with a website should be let in. A set of standards must be established and agreed upon by both sides. The Oilers can really benefit from having a new perspective on the game from people motivated by intrinsic factors. It remains to be seen what would happen in a market like Edmonton where hockey remains front page news even in the summer. Teams such as Washington do grant bloggers access, but Edmonton would be different just because of the Oilogosphere and their presence online.

Oilogosphere

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Great to see that Oilogosphere has its own wikipedia page. A brief excerpt:

The Oilogosphere is the name collectively applied to blogs that cover the Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team. They are widely considered to be among the best and most popular hockey blogs on the internet, with Globe and Mail sportswriter James Mirtle estimating in late 2007 that “five or six” of the best hockey blogs were members of the Oilogosphere.

The Oilogosphere averages 10,000 hits per day not counting people who visit the official Oilers site or read the sports stories online.

The wiki cites work done by David Staples of the Edmonton Journal. David is pretty active himself writing about the Oilers and provides new ways to measure player performance on his blog The Cult of Hockey.

Blogs considered to be part of the Oilogosphere can be found in the links section to the right. It’s not just the blogs and their writers that make up this group. Regular fans have to be included as well since they do a lot of the reading and sharing of this information. The reason these blogs have been so successful is because they remain open to everyone and not just Oiler bloggers. Writers regularly respond to reader comments leading to some interesting discussions.

Online fan community and culture

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Just wrapping up a great course called Digital Tribes. The concept of cyber culture will probably sneak into the final project for good reason.

The one thing that stuck out most is the fact that culture plays an integral role in online behavior. A culture that is open to ideas, welcomes both participants and observers will probably be more successful. If you want to get people to contribute and share ideas and knowledge, you have to provide an environment that is open and ready. This culture is formed by the technology being used, the structure, including norms and values, and of course the people.

Perhaps this is why the Oilers online fan community has grown to be what it is today. People spread all over the world are talking about the Oilers, sharing ideas and generating knowledge regularly. One thing you will notice when surfing these blogs is the openness to comments. Some comments last a couple sentences, others go on for paragraphs. But both are accepted and reflected upon by the blogging community. The comments that are vulgar, or may be irrelevant are often ignored and eventually get phased out. The majority of the comments have some thought behind it and are typically responses to previous ideas.