Student at Missouri Western

This year I learned how to utilize social media as a tool to grow a brand. Whether that brand is personal or for an organization or product.

Social Listening

Social listening is a vital aspect of growing a brand through social media. If you do not know what your audience wants or is talking about how will you influence them?

Social listening includes analytics, reading comments, and watching trends. Analytics involves information about people viewing your posts, clicking your links, and liking/sharing posts. Age, gender, race, and even more information like geographical location, education levels, etc. can be looked at sometimes.

Setting up a Social Media Schedule

As a brand and organization, it is important to have a schedule for social media posts. Brands should be posting 2-4 times a week at least to keep people up to date. It will be important to test what times are best to reach audiences, but it is just important to be consistently posting.

Post Criteria

Always try to keep posts short on text and use images and videos to attract the attention of your audience. The average viewer pays attention to a social media post for about seven seconds. So you as a brand or organization have seven seconds to wow the viewer.

The past year has shown a lot of people the reality of virtual and digital communication. While most businesses and professional users might know Zoom. Another application available is Discord.

Discord is a free voice, video, and text chat application. Discord can be private or public spaces for people to chat and meet.

Discord has servers, servers are the spaces on Discord that people can create. In discord servers there are channels. Text channels and voice channels are the two options. In text channels users can post messages, upload files, and share images or links. In voice channels users can connect to the channel and talk to other members of the server. Users are also able to share video or share their screen in voice channels.

Another option in discord is direct messages and group direct messages. If you want to just message one person or a group of people separate from a server you can do so. Users can also add other users as friends, which is required to do group messages. Users also have the option of only allowing friends to message them so you do not get messages from people you do not trust.

TikTok is a media app used to create and share short clips or videos. Users who post on TikTok have no way to privatize their posts or keep them from the public eye. It is not like regular social media where your profile can be private.

TikTok’s mission is “to capture and present the world’s creativity, knowledge, and precious life moments, directly from the mobile phone” and it “enables everyone to be a creator, and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos.”

Tiktok was created in China and has two different versions because of China’s censorship laws. Tiktok as we know has 689 million monthly active users worldwide (besides China). In China, the TikTok version there has 600 million daily active users.

TikTok was able to find a niche that vine left when Twitter shut it down. Some users avoided using TikTok at first but once their friend’s and family started sending them little clips through text messages they began to try TikTok out. Around 62% of users are from the ages of 10-29.

TikTok shows us that it only takes a few seconds to attract people’s attention and marketing teams are beginning to utilize TikTok as a way to plug their products into the daily lives of people on TikTok.

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/15/bytedance-douyin-has-600-million-daily-active-users.html

I searched my first and last name in Google and what I mostly found was social media accounts and football information. Stuff like my Hudl account where I shared my football highlights and old YouTube videos of me punting in high school. Also, there are some pictures from the websites of headshots or profile pictures I have used on all of these accounts. I did not find any bad or unprofessional photos in my search.

I have 410 followers on Twitter and 484 followers on Instagram. I have 848 friends on Facebook. On Twitter and Facebook, I will get an average of 5-30 likes/reactions on a post. On Instagram, I average around 80-100, and on a couple of posts reached 155 likes. Instagram was mostly used during football season. I would always post pictures with my fiancée and family/friends and share them. Below I provided some images of my Twitter profile and Instagram bio with my best Instagram post I have had.

Most of my social media pages are just used to share posts from Griffon Esports now and help get the word out about the program. I have started to focus my brand more on Esports and gaming. I think my target audience should be focused on recruiting people and players to the program here at Missouri Western. Also, I will need to be able to recruit wherever I go in the future so learning and utilizing social media is a big part of recruiting now.

I started following more Esports directors and coaches in other sports. I notice a lot of them post advice for recruits to use on getting noticed and what they look for in recruits. I think it would be useful if I posted something once a week to help brand myself and help recruits get noticed. I also think with my past experience of being recruited and playing at a college level I can provide added information from past experience.

Fortnite is a few things in one, but in the competitive esports world, it is known for its’ battle royale game mode. Fortnite hit the ground running with a new way to release a game… free. Yes, Fortnite is free to play. The way the company makes money from the game is through the purchase of its battle pass and cosmetics within the game. Fortnite is also known for the largest payout to one person from an esports competition. Kyle 'Bugha' Giersdorf was awarded 3 million dollars at the age of 16 when he won the Fortnite World Cup.

https://www.xfire.com/best-spots-to-land-in-fortnite-season-5/

Map

The Fortnite map has changed a lot from the beginning of creation. Players have to understand the hot spots to drop that have more chests in a location. Chests will drop random weapons and ammo. The strategy for competitive play is to drop in a hot zone, loot up and get weapons, then get resources, and if you have survived this far you then branch out to where the storm is not going. A circle will appear on the map and you avoid the storm. It causes damage and will eliminate players if they stay in it too long.

Battle Royale

A battle royale combines exploration, survival, and scavenging for items. The goal for players is to land somewhere on the map and begin adventuring around and finding resources like wood, brick, and metal. On top of that players need to find weapons and ammo to defend and attack other players. The goal is to be the last player or team standing.

Building

Fortnite set itself apart from other games in the same genre by being able to build walls, stairs, roofs, and floors with resources players collect. The game is centered around being able to build efficiently and effectively. It is required for any amateur or professional player to build at a high level. The building is a priority over aim for Fortnite.

Popularity

I listed a few reasons above why Fortnite is popular. The big reason Fortnite is popular is because they created the game to work on phones, consoles, and computers. The game can be played anywhere at any time. Also, rather than Epic Games cash in all the money, they take a portion and use it to fund events for their players.

League of Legends is one of the most popular team-based strategy games that is played around the world. League of Legends is a MOBA which stands for Multiplayer online battle arena. There are two teams of five players that face off to win. There are many game modes in League of Legends, but the most popular one is 5v5 Summoner's Rift. 

https://www.surrenderat20.net/p/summoners-rift-update-preview.html

Summoners Rift, pictured above, features three different lanes in which the players can use to travel around the map. In these lanes, teams will have turrets that protect their side of the map and attack enemies in their line of sight. Between the three lanes, there are areas referred to as the jungle. Inside the jungle, players will find creatures that they can fight to either give them gold or to buff their characters. 

The basic objective to win the game is to destroy the enemies final structure in their base called the Nexus. Each team will have minions that spawn at their own nexuses, and the minions will run in groups down each lane to assist their champions. The minions can deal damage, as well as take damage. They will work to destroy enemy turrets, minions, and champions. However the minions are relatively weak, and their major purpose is to serve as ‘distractions’, or ‘damage takers’, while the champions work to take down a turret or another champion. Minions also reward players with gold and experience.

Each player can choose from over 150 different characters called champions. 

Every player sticks to a different role during the game. They are defined by Top Lane, Mid Lane, Jungle, ADC, and Support.

Top Lane

Champions of the top lane are usually tough, single fighters called Tanks. They focus on the opposing team’s strongest members and ensure that their lane is protected as well.  Tanks are characters that don’t deal extremely high damage but can take a lot. They use minions and turrets to assist in dealing damage along with their own damage dealing abilities. 

Mid Lane

Champions of the Mid Lane will either be zoning the map, which aids in macro play. This helps the entire team all around. They can also be ‘bursting’ champions, which deal high amounts of damage in short amounts of time – or they can be high damage dealing players that cannot take high amounts of damage but can deal a lot per second. 

Jungle

Champions of the jungle are those who can deal high damage in short amounts of time, and then escape back into the shadows of the jungle to avert enemy damage. They will also work out destroying the neutral monsters within the jungle which aids the team’s side objectives that can help give the team an edge in battle. 

Bot Lane

The champions of the bottom lane are those who usually use range to make attacks and deal damage. These champions grow stronger as the game goes on, and are usually the ones that will carry the team to victory near the end of the game. These champions are usually weak at the beginning of the game, which is why they will have a player being a support to help them take and deal damage.

Support

The champions that play support are those who are good at “controlling the crowd”, to assist the ADC in moving through the bottom lane. They will also play around the map supporting other roles to help carry the team to victory. The supports provide aid where the other champions need it. This aid can be in the form of shields, healing another player, or dealing damage along their assisted champion. 

 As champions continue to deal damage, they earn gold which can be used to buy helpful items and upgrades through the game. There are many items that players can buy that can enhance or defend themselves. They also earn experience points, which help them unlock stronger abilities as the game continues. 

Jungle Creatures

Lastly, enemy teams can eliminate certain creatures around the map to turn the tide of the game. There is red buff, blue buff, Rift Herald, Dragon, and Baron.

Red buff provides a buff for players that makes their auto attacks slow the enemy, a bit of true damage applies over time after your auto attack, and extra health regeneration. Blue buff provides percentage mana/energy regeneration, cooldown reduction, and bonus ability power. Rift and Baron spawn on the top side of the map. Rift spawns first and after 20 minutes Baron will spawn. Baron gives champions a buff that applies to minions when they are near them to allow teams to push lanes faster. Rift can be summoned once a team defeats it and will charge a tower to take it down faster.

There are five different types of dragons. Infernal Drake gives bonus percentage AD and AP. Cloud drake gives bonus movement speed, tripled while out of combat. Mountain drake gives bonus percentage damage against towers and "epic monsters" (i.e. dragons, rift scuttler, and baron). Finally, ocean drake gives bonus percentage health and mana regeneration when out of combat. After four drakes are obtained by one team the elder dragon will spawn which provides huge amounts of damage and buffs to champions and can allow a team to end quickly.

At the end of the day, there are hundreds of thousands of different champions and item combinations a team can have that can take them to victory. No matter how your team approaches winning the game, there is never a dull moment when playing League of Legends.

Overwatch is an exciting and fast-paced game played competitively around the world!

 Overwatch is an FPS, which stands for First Person Shooter, and it has two teams made up of six players. Just like any other sport, there are particular roles players have to fill in order for their team to succeed, and those roles are tank, damage, and support.

Roles

Tanks are the shield/frontline, they are generally the biggest characters with the most health, their job is to tank damage and keep your more fragile team members safe. The support role is similar to field medics, their job is to keep the team alive and strong, they are force amplifiers for the team. Damage dealers excel at one thing, dealing damage. Their job is to capitalize on the opposing team’s weaknesses and take them down.

Overview of the Game

Players take control of Overwatch Heroes that all fit somewhere within those three roles, these characters all have unique abilities that help them excel in those roles, as well a special ability called an ultimate that can be charged up and used periodically throughout a match. Each hero’s ultimate can turn the tide of a game, and it’s very important that the team is communicating and coordinating the usage of the heroes ultimate. 

Eliminations don’t add to a team’s score in Overwatch, however removing opponents from the match, even for a short time, is incredibly helpful when completing the objectives needed to win. 

Game Modes

Competitive Overwatch has 4 game modes, which are control, assault, escort, and hybrid.

Control involves two teams compete for a central point similar to king of the hill. At the top, there will be 3 indicators. Who currently has control of the point, what percentage of the point they have (out of 100%), and how many maps each team has won. Best 2 out of 3.

Assault is similar to control, there is a control point in which one team defends while another team attacks. If the attacking team successfully takes complete control of the first point within the time period they will move onto a second point and gain additional time. After either the time runs out or the attacking team takes both objectives the teams will swap and they will need to beat the opposing team's time to win. 

In escort, the teams will take turns with one attacking and the other defending. The goal for the attacking team is to push an objective called the payload. The team that pushes it farthest at the end of their time or reaches the end of the map wins. There are checkpoints indicated at the top that will give the teams additional time when reached. if both teams reach the end they will use their remaining time to push the payload again without any additional time.

Rocket League is a sport-based video game. To put it simply, Rocket League is soccer with cars. The catch is these cars are rocket powered battle cars that can fly around the map.

Understanding the Game

The basic premise of Rocket League has two teams, red and blue, trying to put the ball into the other teams net and get a point. The team with the most points once the five minutes is up wins. There is a chance for overtime in Rocket League if after the five minutes is up then the first team to score wins.

On the map below there are what the players call little pads and big pads. The little pads provide the car 12 boost. The big pads provide 100 boost to the car. Players can only have up to a 100 boost and must maintain boost throughout the game to be useful. The boost allows the rocket powered cars to go faster and fly longer.

http://team-dignitas.net/articles/blogs/rocket-league/12596/need-boost-a-guide-to-playing-without-boost-in-rocket-league

Competitive side of Rocket League

In competitive play 3’s is the primary game mode that is played. Three players make up one team. Most of the time in Rocket League a team is either attacking or defending. Sometimes a team will try a counter attack, similar to soccer. They allow a team to come into their space and get to far down field then steal the ball and move fast down the field to try and score before they can get back. 

Similar to traditional sports, Rocket League players began to learn possession and team work will outperform mechanics. If you keep the ball from a good player they cannot make good plays.

How the Game has Changed

The game becomes more complex as it ages. In the beginning players would move the ball around on the ground and launch the ball off their car. This was known as dribbling and then flicking the ball. As the game progressed, players began jumping into the air and bringing the ball with them. Next, was the backboard shot. A player would hit the ball up into the air and off the back wall above the goal then score the ball into the goal below. Player’s continually progressed different moves, spins, and flips until you have the Rocket League you watch today.

The Door to Esports for Most New Viewers

One of the initiatives I lead as a Graduate Assistant for the Griffon Esports program is Coaching Coaches. Our program utilizes student coaches to help with our Varsity teams. Coaching Coaches meets bi-weekly and attempts to help student coaches learn how to help their teams and better coach their players.

This past week I discussed the L.A.M.B method with our four coaches. It stands for look, aim, move, and believe. The method, shared by Scott Novis, helps our student coaches reset and focus on the bigger picture. I will go over the L.A.M.B method in my own words and provide Mr. Novis’s blog post about the method at the very end of the post.

Look

As coaches, we have to look at and evaluate the game, the team, and individual players. If a coach focuses too much on one aspect then the team will be affected. Also, it is important for the coach and the players of the team to be able to see the game from a different angle. The main goal of look is to be able to see what the team or individual player needs to improve.

Aim

Once the coach and players have an understanding of the goal or game the coach can begin setting up goals to aim for, hence the name aim. It is important to set the aim correctly. If a goal is hard to reach a player might lose motivation or if the goal is easy the player might become overconfident and not properly prepare. A coach has to be able to pinpoint what a player needs.

Move

The power of moving people to achieve a goal is beyond measure. A coach has to be able to measure progress with players and get players moving forward in that progress. It is important to help the player realize they are moving forward because that will keep them motivated. Mr. Novis goes over each level of challenges from beginner to advanced and shows how to help each player advance further.

Believe

The final piece to the method and what I find to be the most important. When a person believes in themself and the team nothing will stop them from achieving any goal they set. It is crucial for a coach to let their players know it is okay to lose but you have to learn something from the loss and get back up. Positive self-talk and a growth mindset are two tools a coach should use and help players learn to use in order to believe and work hard to achieve their dreams.

You may be wondering what esports is or you may have heard about this competitive environment involving video games on social media or from some friends.

Before jumping into the depths of esports, let us take a simple look at esports to build a basic understanding of what esports is and why it works.

Most esport games have a goal or objective to complete and the job of the player or team is to complete that goal or objective before the other player or team. Simply put, esports and sports have a similar design to them.

The reason esports works is based on the simple idea of sports as entertainment. You are taking a person or a team of people and pitting them against another team or person trying to prove who is the better adversary. People love competition and want to see the best players compete.

While some people view the players of traditional sports as masters of their craft. There is a generation of people that view someone competing in a video game as a master of their craft and want to be just like them.

The big advantage esports has is the ability to provide entertainment around the world similar to soccer or as most say fútbol.

It may surprise some people but esports is reaching the likes of sport entertainment and passing some traditional sports in ratings.

The Most Viewed Esport

One game, League of Legends, had more than 100 million people watch the grand final in the year 2019 (. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena or MOBA for short. Two teams made up of five players compete against each other to take down the other team's base or nexus as the game refers to it.

This picture provides a view of the map in League of Legends. Each player on the team has a different role and will play in an assigned lane. The goal of both teams is to take objectives on the map and earn gold. Gold allows the players to buy items that will help them beat the other team. The team that accumulates the most gold is more likely to reach the enemies nexus and destroy it. Once the nexus is destroyed the game ends and the team who took the other team’s nexus wins.

League of Legends is the most viewed esports game as of 2019.

Other Genres of Esports

First Person Shooters (FPS), games like Call of Duty, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, and Rainbow Siege Six fall under the FPS category. FPS games involve strategy and can produce high amounts of adrenaline for players and viewers. Clutch moments where one person has to outplay another player or even multiple players to win a round creates great entertainment.

Fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Super Smash Bros. Most fighter games are one versus one matches to show who is the better player. Similar to boxing, it shows who is the better adversary and knows more about the game.

Mass multiplayer online role-playing games, MMORPGs, include World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Runescape, and many more. MMORPGs do not take up a lot of the esports spotlight, but still have their place. Most MMORPGs allow a person to forget about the world around them and enjoy playing as a character in a game and being the superhero of a magical world.

https://www.businessinsider.com/league-of-legends-world-championship-100-million-viewers-2019-12#:~:text=The%202019%20%22League%20of%20Legends,envy%20of%20the%20esports%20industry.