Hey Kyle – I think we were using Twitter as an update because it’s easier for our mass audience to see. Of course there are other avenues – but I think both Sonny and I have the mindset of all avenues being addressed in comments, not just the post.

Thanks for reading.

They’re afraid that SM is going to take over, but it’s not. Just like within your own business or agency, it’s becoming an extension of what everyone does, not a new all-around solution.

What the NCAA is likely attempting to do here is control who can profit from their events. They recognized a possible threat from bloggers taking media attention away from those who have paid good money for access to game media.

If you haven’t noticed, things are changing very fast in the social media world. But businesses still need to make money, so I think we’re going to see a lot of these (admittedly unenforceable) rules popping up… just for the sake of having them.

Chew on this: If the music industry didn’t push for p2p file sharing being declared illegal, how much MORE of their bottom line would they have lost? It’s something that’s needed to prevent social media from overtaking all things profitable.

David hit it on the head:

“Fans aren’t there to report on the game…they share info online because they’re excited about their experiences and want to let others know what a great time they’re having. They actually make people who aren’t there JEALOUS because they’re having such a good time. Why in the world would you want to ban that?”

And there’s no way they’ll be able to enforce this. Are they really saying I can’t take a picture of me and my boys at the game and put it on Facebook? No way to enforce, and people definitely won’t police themselves on this.

Fans aren’t there to report on the game…they share info online because they’re excited about their experiences and want to let others know what a great time they’re having. They actually make people who aren’t there JEALOUS because they’re having such a good time. Why in the world would you want to ban that?

They’re worried about people video taping the game? Well that has never really been allowed. This isn’t a change. If they see someone sitting there with a video camera the whole time, they can ask them to stop. If they’re using equipment good enough to record video that people actually enjoy watching, it will probably be easy to find the guy with the big camera.

Just seems like the people making decisions over there are very out of touch with reality, and as Stuart said, reality will win out. This won’t change much.

@SeatGeek

Who says they are mutually exclusive?

While someone may be trapped in a black hole with nothing but their cell phone to update them, I would guess a lot of folks watching the SM streams are ALSO watching the game on ESPN, CBS, or web like ESPN 360; “participating” in the event in a bar, at work or at home since they can’t be there in person.

During the CWS the LSU faithful had a blast tweeting about the games, making the trending topics; football coach Les Miles even got into the act, tweeting from the stands (though he probably won’t be tweeting from the sidelines this fall). At home I had fun watching on TV, cheering and Tweeting them to victory.

So someone is going to try and stop folks from updating their FB status with “having fun at ‘Bama home opener” and a picture? Good luck with that. This could get interesting (and ugly). FWIW.

I think they can regulate players, coaches, etc. – those are people that work or play for the SEC. But the fans? I understand exclusive – as seen above – but I don’t think they’ll be able to pull it off.

Biting off more than they can chew.

Bottom line: the NCAA, like many other major organizations, will do anything, anything to protect its brand and image, and the sad fact is that even in 2009, will a great deal of research and public sentiment shows that by allowing your public and your fans to engage with you and to help you shape your brand’s/organization’s image, you can do MORE to cultivate a strong and resilient public image, the NCAA is still stuck believing this isn’t the case. I know a lot of people who work at the NCAA’s offices, as well as at the SEC and some of its schools, and they are all great people and very smart at what they do (and yes, the NCAA does have a social media department, and it does fantastic work … check out the “NCAA DoubleA Zone”), and I can almost guarantee you they are adamantly against this new rule.

But the NCAA, like so many others, is a very top-down organization. Someone high up in the SEC probably made this rule, and now, the backlash is only just beginning.