When you’re in social media, interactions are EVERYTHING.
Interactions, as defined by CrowdTangle and Opendorse, are likes and comments on Instagram, likes and retweets on Twitter, and reactions, comments and shares on Facebook.
And, if you’re in the digital world in collegiate athletics, like I am with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), you need to follow SkullSparks. For the uninitiated, SkullSparks is a company that partners with college sports brands on recruiting talent and building digital strategy and connect Americaโs largest network of sports creatives (That’s straight from the horse’s mouth).
Each month – and at the end of each year – SkullSparks produces a rank order of Collegiate Athletic Departments that compiled the most social media interactions for that span. Most recently, SkullSparks released its year-end chart for the 2022 calendar year.
You didn’t have to look too far to find out where the USTFCCCA would rank if it was an Athletic Department: 48th with 763.5k interactions. I nearly fell out of my chair when I scanned the list. That would put us between Colorado and Washington, which are two high-powered, Power 5 Athletic Departments.
What’s more impressive to me is that we’re able to do those kind of numbers covering just three sports: cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. Every other institution on that list has a full compilation of sports from which to add to their tally, including basketball and football.
To add to that, our 763.5k interactions were from Instagram and Twitter alone.
We must be doing something right down here in New Orleans.
