Past The Press Box : Colin O'Keefe of The American Sportswriter : On Sportswriting, Social Media, Sports Blogging, Journalism, Sports Marketing

Social technology is defined, more than anything, by the people who use it. Harking back to days long ago, I vividly remember there were two specific groups of people when I was in middle school: AOL Instant Messenger people and MSN Messenger people. It wasn't based on their technological preference, but sometimes really came down to what type of person they were. Even now, it never surprises me when ask someone which they used after raising this observation.

You can even see it now. Facebook is the everyman's social network; there's a lot of noise but you can use it effectively to stay in touch with friends and family, while also creepily monitoring the activity of acquaintances. Twitter, on the other hand, is the network for content producers, for celebrities and members of the media.

In order for Google+ to be successful, and not go the route of Wave, Buzz and whatever, it has to be the social network of someone, even if it isn't the one they use exclusively. With the announcement of the Google+ Homecoming Tour, they seem to making creative efforts to get move in that direction.

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My favorite part of using social media as a means to track sports news is easily the ability to connect with and follow sportswriters. While the early scoops and insider commentary are excellent, I almost enjoy tracking the the life of a sportswriter just as much. Now, I'm not talking about their personal lives, just how they react to certain pieces of news.

As I segue into what the title of this post is actually referring to, I couldn't help but smirk when I caught the reacton a Seattle-area sportswriter had to news that University of Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian had named his starting quarterback for the Oregon State game via Twitter.

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