102 | SEPTEMBER 2017 http://www.adbmag.com.auThere isn’t any need
to be posting stuff in
the middle of race
day. You could be out
checking lines on the
track or getting your
goggles readySPECIAL FEATURE I SOCIAL MEDIA
time to myself during the day and I
just found myself looking at my phone
all the time,” he told Steve Matthes.
“Some things I liked, some things I
didn’t and I just thought, this sucks!
I’ll get back on at some stage but I just
don’t like the direction it’s heading”.
Of course, some riders choose to
avoid it all together. They may still
have accounts, but they leave the
posting to friends, family, or a
dedicated social media manager. But
as the world constantly evolves, it’s
becoming harder and harder to avoid
it, in our personal and our
professional lives.
So how can we educate riders, to
successfully and positively use social
media to their advantage?
LAUNDRY
“We could talk for hours on the
subject,” says Hoges. “But the main
thing I would say is to not air your
dirty laundry on social media. That
could come down to a number of
different things. It could be that you
just had a fight with your partner and
you decide to vent online.
“Or it could be that you had a bad
race on the weekend, so you get on
there and say we’ve got a major
problem with the bike. This kind of
thing doesn’t represent you or your
sponsors very well.”
Hoges recommends putting your
phone away on race day. “The way I
see it from a business perspective, is
that there really isn’t any need to be
posting stuff in the middle of a race
day. You could be out checking lines
on the track or getting your goggles
ready, or having a drink or banana. I
almost think that you’re bringing a bit
of bad karma on yourself. You could
be doing more to get a good result.
“If you want to have a look at your
social media on the way to the track,
that’s fine. And I think we need to
treat our sport as a proper job.”
As for the negative feedback, Hoges
believes it’s hard to avoid it. “You can
try to be evasive and not read the
comments, but sooner or later, you’ll
end up seeing stuff,” he says. So try
avoid social media when at the races.
Grabbo said he understands the
influence social media can have, “I
guess as I go through life I’ve started
to realise that you’re always going to
have haters no matter what. And I
think social media has given them aninstant voice, which I think is
complete crap. You see the social
media wars and to me it’s just a waste
of time to be honest. Rather than get
involved in that crap, focus on the
positive side of it, do your bit and
ignore the rest.
“If I was still dealing with racers, I
would teach them to use it to your
advantage, if you need information or
you want to show people what you’ve
been doing or if you’ve got a good
product. But at the same time, be
prepared that no matter how good you
do, there is always going to be
someone who will whinge and
complain, or say they can do it better.
Don’t give them fuel by biting back”.
So who’s a good role model for
social media use? “Ricky Carmichael
has got a good subtle way of doing his
stuff,” says Hoges. “Ricky seems to
have a pretty good balance of stuff on
there and you never think to yourself
that you need to unfollow him
because he’s posting annoying stuff.”
The bottom line is that social media
is good and bad. But regardless of our
opinions, it’s hard to avoid. So to all
the kids out there, learn to use it
wisely, and turn it off on race day!