During any given day, there’s a gargantuan amount of information exchanged through the social media platform (“micro blog” is the technical term) known as Twitter… All in 140 characters or less,. Depending on who you follow on the platform, you can find breaking news, see a wide variety of opinions and commentary, see photos and read about anecdotes, you can find people arguing, debating, flirting, or simply fooling around through the inanity of Twitter (hello @Strombone1).
And, per usual, society has conceived an awards show specifically for Twitter.
The Shorty Awards are a recognition of the best and most popular (Vox Populi) Twitter accounts / personalities out there. You can find out more about the Shorty Awards and its history here. They cover a wide number of categories covering news, entertainment, the arts, sports … with specific categories like, oh, let me just throw out a quick example here: hockey.
There are several Twitter accounts that we at Raw Charge are supportive of, fans of, and rely on for news, information and entertainment. Accounts that need your vote to get them the proper recognition they deserve.
The only requirement to participate in the 2013 Shorty Awards is to have a Twitter account and follow certain Tweet-vote guidelines for your vote to register.
Got Twitter? Want to vote? Let’s talk turkey below…
First off, before I go further, let me stress that this is not a hockey-centric social media award. We’re simply focusing on the Hockey Twitterverse in this post. If you want to nominate or vote for people/accounts in other categories (like journalist, blogger, charity, comedians, fake accounts, and many other sports), by all means do it. Also, if you know of other accounts deserving of votes for hockey (ones we did not mention below – and let’s face it, there are thousands of worthwhile accounts to follow), go for it. Feel free to mention it in comments.
There are two different methods that can be used to register a vote in the Shorty Awards:
Method One
- Go to the Shorty Awards Hockey page
- In the available field, type in an account name (tblightning, rawcharge, tsnbobmckenzie, etc)
- Supply a reason why you nominate this person for a Shorty award (“I nominate @this_guy for a Shorty Award in #hockey because I’m providing an example”)
- Click “Tweet Your Vote” and you’re done.
Method Two
(taken from the Shorty Awards web site)
- Using your normal Twitter account, send a tweet like this: Inominate @TwitterUser for a Shorty Award in #category because… [must add reason here].
- You can also tweet shorter nominations like this: #shortyawards @username #category [must add reason here].
- Be as creative with the reason. A tweet without a reason for the nominationwill not be counted.
Voting is open until February 10th, 2013. You can read the full rules and voting process here.
Below are several accounts for #Hockey that we recommend our readers should vote for, so they get the recognition they deserve. Some are for obvious reasons, while others are because we respect the hell out of them. Note: we’re deliberately skipping Lightning team players on this list. We’re linking directly to the Shorty Awards pages for these specific account. The pages go up with anyone who is nominated for a Shorty Award.
Oen other note: Yeah, the NHL lockout happened and you may feel compelled to not vote for anything NHL related. That’s all fine and good. Just don’t neglect the sport itself as there are plenty of non-NHL related accounts out there worth recognition.
Anyway, here are just a few suggestions from us:
- @tblightning – The Tampa Bay Lightning team account has nominations in Hockey as well as Sports Team. It’s excellent social media outreach — through news, information, contest and fan interaction — are a reason to be a proud fan.
- @BoltProspects – our friends at BoltProspects.com keep Lightning fans up to date on players throughout the full Tampa Bay Lightning system (Junior level prospects, collegiate, European talent as well as updates on the minor leaguers in the AHL and ECHL) along with keeping fans informed at the NHL level. It’s a unique site with fantastic quality, and the Twitter account (operated by Chad Schnarr) is no exception.
- @erlendssontrib – If there’s one thing we may take for granted as Lightning fans, it’s the approachability of Erik Erlendsson from the Tampa Tribune/TBO, through social media. Erik keeps fans informed in an up-to-the-minute fashion on team happenings and hockey banter. He certainly deserves recognition for his efforts.
- @bobmckenzieTSN – If there is one reporter and voice on Twitter that has the pulse of hockey at all levels, it’s Bob. You can go no higher up the NHL journalism hierarchy than McKenzie.
- @wyshynski – Greg “Puck Daddy” Wyshynski is the gold standard for hockey bloggers, and his Twitter account is the same: Entertaining and highly informative.
- @proteautype – Adam Proteau of the Hockey News both informs on Twitter and is actively engaging and often replies to messages sent his way.
- @mirtle – James Mirtle from Canada’s Globe and Mail. Former hockey section manager here at SB Nation, Leafs beat writer of current, long time bloggers and all around snazzy guy. You may not always like what James has to say but he’s one of the best on Twitter for coverage of the sport.
Of course, there are countless other accounts that’d be mentioned here, but I’d be writing all day to suggest just about every SB Nation hockey blog’s Twitter account, as well as individual writers from each site…
That being said, I told you above that this post isn’t a pimping for Raw Charge in this contest, but for the sake of saying so, Raw Charge is listed as a nominee for a Shorty Award in hockey. Also listed are several of the site’s writers individually: Cassie McClellan, Clark Brooks, Clare Austin, Alexandra Ackerman and myself.
