One of the things about running a blog that people don’t think about (because they’re too busy reading and agreeing / disagreeing with the blog content) is that we’re also supposed to promote ourselves through social media and pay attention to news as it breaks via Twitter.
You may already be following Raw Charge on Twitter, in which case we thank you. If not, we invite you to do so.
At any rate, during any given day, there’s a gargantuan amount of conversation that goes on in the Twitterverse…in 140 characters or less, of course. You get fed breaking news, opinions, commentary, anecdotes, you may find people arguing, debating, or simply fooling around through the inanity of a Twitter hashtag like #DanEllisProblems .
There has been an award out there for the three years called the Shorty Awards. These are an attempt to recognize 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. While I could say this is an attempt to encourage you to vote for Raw Charge for the best hockey Twitter account, that’s not the plan.
There are several accounts that we’re 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 2012 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, 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 news, PR, comedians, fake accounts, and other sports), please be our guest. 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 hundreds of worthwhile accounts to follow), go for it. Maybe even 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 17th, 2012. 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.
- @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 heirachy 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.
We 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, Matt Amos, Clark Brooks (nominated in the “Blogger” and “Humor” categories) and myself.
