Tweets and Tags

BAD move.  That would be like tagging multiple girls on a tweet.  Remember, this in every recruiting situation.  It is just like finding a spouse.  Recruiting is part of the dating process.  If you would not do it dating, don't do it in recruiting.  If you would not do it when you are engaged, don't do it once you commit.  If you would not do it when married, don't do it once you are in college.  Really simple.

If using social media, use hashtags instead of tags.

@PitchingFan posted:

BAD move.  That would be like tagging multiple girls on a tweet.  Remember, this in every recruiting situation.  It is just like finding a spouse.  Recruiting is part of the dating process.  If you would not do it dating, don't do it in recruiting.  If you would not do it when you are engaged, don't do it once you commit.  If you would not do it when married, don't do it once you are in college.  Really simple.

Disagree. This is a good move but go straight to head coaches only, cut out the middle man.  This worked for my son. We had a bidding war for him by Clemson and Florida but all the SEC and ACC were in on him after we tagged the head coaches in a tweet.  

If the coach is interested they are probably already following you but I highly doubt that tagging a coach helps at all.

It raises a "red flag" and increases the use of the "delete" key.

Bob

@IAmThatGuy posted:

Disagree. This is a good move but go straight to head coaches only, cut out the middle man.  This worked for my son. We had a bidding war for him by Clemson and Florida but all the SEC and ACC were in on him after we tagged the head coaches in a tweet.  

We are talking out of HS not transfer portal.  The kid who has a bidding war between ACC and SEC out of HS can do anything he wants.  

I also think what you are tweeting matters. If it's a beautiful video of your swing showing a homer off the #1 ranked pitcher in your state to win the HS championship, that's worth posting.  If you're tagging college coaches in a low quality video of you hitting off the tee in your backyard, that's probably not going to help you.

Does anyone have a set of guiding principles for HS players using Twitter?

My son dipped his toe into Twitter last year, and then received advice to stay off.  Now he tends to just do an occassional re-tweet or likes; rarely tweets his own content and never hastags a college coach.

For what ever the reason, my 2024 is reluctant to engage with Twitter, but sure does like Instagram.  Why does the kid have a bias towards Instagram vs. Twitter?

If a college coach follows a HS player on social media ... is it really a signal of their recruiting interest?

Seems like a missed opportunity not have some social media presence these days.

@mjd-dad posted:

Does anyone have a set of guiding principles for HS players using Twitter?

My son dipped his toe into Twitter last year, and then received advice to stay off.  Now he tends to just do an occassional re-tweet or likes; rarely tweets his own content and never hastags a college coach.

For what ever the reason, my 2024 is reluctant to engage with Twitter, but sure does like Instagram.  Why does the kid have a bias towards Instagram vs. Twitter?

If a college coach follows a HS player on social media ... is it really a signal of their recruiting interest?

Seems like a missed opportunity not have some social media presence these days.

Common sense stuff.   follow target schools, engage in their twitter feeds (quote tweet). Show workouts (training), some game time actions.

Here is a link to some more stuff

https://keepplayingbaseball.org/?s=social+media

Whatever you do just make sure you get the name of the school right lol.  There's nothing worse than seeing comments, posts....and especially committment announcements where they say the University of Ohio State or Georgia University

My son isn't a big social media guy. He uses snapchat and instagram for personal stuff but hardly ever posts anything about his baseball.

I have seen kids post trash talking stuff only to come back and bite them hard. I always tell my son, the internet is permanent and anything you post is out there for good.

@CollegebaseballInsights posted:

Common sense stuff.   follow target schools, engage in their twitter feeds (quote tweet). Show workouts (training), some game time actions.

Here is a link to some more stuff

https://keepplayingbaseball.org/?s=social+media

Thanks for the sharing the link ... some good current content:

Does the risk outway the reward when HS players hastag coaches in their Tweeter posts?

Son posts game highlights and has some retweeted tournament posts that came from tournament organizers. He has tagged a school's baseball Twitter account once so far. Was not a highlight or clip but, we were at one of the schools games. He did a panning video of the field and said something about being a great day to watch some baseball. The next day the schools RC started following his account. The RCs account does not follow a ton of players. Guess he saw something in son's posts he liked. If possible a post and tag like this may work. Son showed enough interest in the program to go watch a game. Realy it was one our trips so he could see the level of play in that conference. He does like a lot about that school after touring the campus on our own. Just an idea if you are close enough to watch a game.

What is the goal here - to get a better offer?

Coach at the school your son is committed to calls and says why are you sending highlight videos to another coach? Why did you want Coach ______ to see that? Good luck with that conversation.

Recruiting videos make sense for those who are looking to be recruited. They show swing/velo/mechanics.

Highlight videos are only done for likes, which is silly in my opinion but either way once you start bringing other people in on it, it goes from fun little highlight tape to whatever the coach interprets it to be - which in this case would be shopping yourself around because that's exactly what it is.

If your son is asking you about this directly, figure out why he wants to show other coaches. If it was your idea I suggest you don't get involved.

@mjd-dad posted:

Thanks for the sharing the link ... some good current content:

Does the risk outway the reward when HS players hastag coaches in their Tweeter posts?

There is a time and place for everything. The problem with many social media warriors is that they have no boundaries - they think anytime is the right time. Once you have signed an NLI it’s time to stop dialogue with other schools. Not doing so can be a much bigger risk than people realize - and this goes for players AND parents. A kid that I train (and helped get a scholarship to a Texas JuCo) won’t stay off social media. He is having a breakout year as a HS senior (as I thought he might) and he is getting a lot of media exposure. Four year schools RCs are retweeting, commenting, etc. and he sees this as an open door to reply to them. His future JuCo HC doesn’t see it that way. He is getting pissed and interprets the actions as an indication that this player isn’t fully committed to his program. This isn’t the case at all as the player is fully committed but the optics are very bad. No surprise that the player can’t understand the hole he is digging for himself.

Adbono;

Intelligence Coaches can "find" a weakness in a player verbal remarks. Hope they do not play in the same conference.

Bob