Positive Impact of Social Media, What?!

This generation, we have all heard it before that social media is the devil. It's not just me, right? 

Would it be crazy of me to bring light to the positive impact of social media? Some may say absolutely, but I am going to give it my best shot. 

I know first-handed the impact of social media. From personal experience, I have felt extreme encouragement from social media; Twitter mostly. I would almost go as far as saying that Twitter is like my niche. A blessing? Yes, most definitely a blessing for me. 

Twitter is an amazing opportunity for professional athletes and/or those who are in the business to interact with some of their greatest fans. And there are MANY that do just that! 

Luke Winn, Senior writer for Sports Illustrated.

With that being said, I would like to give my readers a few of my personal experiences that give me the right to say how much I appreciate social media. A couple of iconic people who I highly admire that have interacted with me on Twitter are Dick Vitale, Jerome Bettis, Ryan Clark, Trey Wingo, Jay Crawford, Kevin Negandhi, Rachel Nichols, Erin Andrews, Keyshawn Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Phillips and Le'Veon Bell. I have received follows from Cari Champion from ESPN's First Take, the NFL on ESPN Twitter account, Craig Sager's son, Craig Sager II, and from Adam "Pacman" Jones. 

Chicago Bulls beat reporter for ESPN. I was EXCITED for this one.

A couple of the mentions on Twitter that come right to mind come from Dick Vitale, Rachel Nichols and Jay Crawford. 

Let me narrow it down some more... My most humbling moment has come from Dick Vitale, someone who I admire extremely. I had just written a blog post on the impact of Jimmy V Week and I decided to go for all the marbles and post the link to Twitter and tag Dick Vitale to give him a chance to read it. Later that evening I had received a mention back on twitter from the Diaper Dandy himself that said, "@AshleyNicoleS17 A super job on V Week". A mention on Twitter that meant a lot to me for obvious reasons. To realize that someone of Dick Vitale's caliber and his influence within the world of sports has read one of my blog posts is such an incredible feeling. And I have Twitter and the good Lord to thank for that. 

No words. So humbling.

And that's not even the first time that he's mentioned me on Twitter. How cool! Dickie V has a restaurant in Florida called the Broken Egg in which he has told me to visit a couple of times. If ever I am in Florida, he can bet that I would be there. 

I've never had more of a reason to travel to Florida.

Jay Crawford is one of my most favorite hosts on Sportscenter and someone who is from my home state of Ohio. I've let it be known to him that I admire his work and hope to one day work alongside of him at ESPN. "@AshleyNicoleS17 @espn work hard. Chase that dream and catch it!! You can do it Ashley." is the reply that I got. When I tell you that I was ecstatic, it is no joke. Something else that Twitter has been to me: a source of encouragement. When you tell someone who is working in your desired profession and working at the place that you're trying to get to that it's your dream to eventually end up there and they reply?! Indescribable. 

Now THAT is what I call encouragement. Hope to see him soon!

Where there is Trey Wingo, there is humor. He is someone who I look forward to watching on NFL Live somedays at 4:00 pm. Wingo is a person of HUMOR. I never lose interest when I am watching this guy on tv. The best part is that his humor carries over to Twitter. I remember that on one of my days during a semester I had a class that went from 3:05 to 4:20 pm which meant that I would miss NFL Live. It was one of my lucky days and my professor had cancelled my class so I turned right to Twitter to let Trey Wingo know that I would be able to catch the show. As if he would care, right? Surprisingly enough, I got a humorous reply from the man himself. "@AshleyNicoleS17 @ESPNNFL I told your professor to do it. You're welcome".

I told you... Funny guy. 

A few of the other interactions that I have received on Twitter that have been the most impactful to me are ones from Rachel Nichols, Nick Friedell (Chicago Bulls ESPN reporter) and Keyshawn Johnson. I have received multiple replies from Rachel Nichols, one that I have looked up to for many years and who I plan to model my career after. She is one of the greater sideline reporters that I have witnessed and to have her take time out of her day and read and respond to something as simple as a tweet actually means a lot and is very plausible if you think about it. The same goes for Friedell and Key.

This was actually a very random blog post. Not my normal planned one, but I felt that that's something that should be brought to many people's attention: the good side of social media. There are many professionals who use social media for the good of it and for that I am thankful because those replies are something that I will reference throughout my career and those are people who I will thank for their encouragement. 

So, if you've ever contemplated going for all the marbles and reaching out to someone professional on Twitter, I say go for it. It could possibly work out in your favor. Also, for what it is worth, some wise advice that I have is to always be careful on what you do put on social media. It is something that your future employees will more than likely look into when considering hiring you due to social media being such a huge part of today's society. 

This has to be the one that I am most thankful for. A few guys who I admire most.