In a world dominated by social media, Ole Miss football fans often turn to Facebook for updates on their favorite sports team. Nearly 13,000 people follow the Coach Hugh Freeze fan page for the latest information on Ole Miss football.
“I follow Coach Freeze’s fan page because it is an interactive platform between other fans,” Summer Wigley, a sophomore journalism major at Ole Miss said. “The page also promotes football events and posts positive messages. I always look forward to the post, ‘Are you ready?’ on my timeline. It gets people excited. I don’t know who is behind the fan page, but I enjoy the pictures he or she posts, the statuses that pump others up and the positive light that it shines on Coach Freeze.”
Freeze’s fans extend beyond the Ole Miss campus. Marguerite Williams, a senior interior design student at Mississippi College, also follows his page.
“I follow him because it’s information about Ole Miss football straight from the horse’s mouth,” Williams said.
Sort of. Freeze’s Facebook page is run by Ole Miss fans, not by Freeze himself. Fans post a combination of text updates and photos to his page daily. However, since Freeze is not responsible for his own Facebook page, Ole Miss public relations expert Robin Street says you need to keep that in mind.
“That’s a huge problem in social media because you don’t know who is behind it sometimes,” Street said. “Having it personally managed or done by staff is critical. Since I teach public relations, I’m all about reputation. One tweet or post could ruin one’s reputation, even if it wasn’t directly from the person the page is about.”
According to statisticbrain.com, there are 83 million fake Facebook profiles. In the case of Coach Freeze, the page may not be his, but the 13,000 or so fans sure are.
Contributed by Ole Miss journalism students Austin Wilkes and Meridith Elder.
