Miami vs. FSU in Social Media 🔒 ⬇️

Allow me a slight detour today on my screenwriting blog to say the Miami vs. Florida State football rivalry is alive and well in 2018. Once upon a time that game decided to who would be playing for a national championship. (Miami has won five championships and Florida State three.)

A shot at the national championship wasn’t at stake Saturday but it was another worthy chapter to add to the book.  (My sister went to FSU and I went to Miami so the rivalry is alive and well in our family.) Miami had to fight back from being down 27-7 to win 28-27.

A couple fights—brawls?—almost broke out in the game. It was a battle. Games like that remind me that there are parallels between football and movies.

”Are you not entertained?”
Maximus (Russell Crowe) in Gladiator

But the battles these days between schools are don’t just happen on the field—they happen in social media. The Canes Football tweet above is a great example of creativity, simplicity,  and meaning. It’s Miami’s symbolic turnover chain wrapped around FSU’s (symbolic?) backpack.

If you’re in film school or in some kind of media studies looking to work in production, don’t overlook how college and pro teams are using social media and digital storytelling. Colleges know that next year’s recruits are tracking teams and school on Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, etc. There are jobs there writing, producing, shooting, and editing content.

Here’s a video put together by Clemson Univesity that captures where things are heading in the sporting world.

“We go into so many high schools for the first time and the head coach will tell us, ‘Man, y’all put out the best videos, the best social media.’ When that’s your first meeting with a coach and he already knows that much about you, your staff and your program, that shows where it’s paying off. It absolutely makes a difference.” 
Jeff Scott, Clemson’s co-offensive coordinator
How Clemson Became the Champions of Social Media

Here’s a video showing Clemson University’s transformation in social media how it engaged their fan base, recruiting, and also helped in fundraising.

Scott W. Smith