From WebSITE to WebSET

SHOUT has previously alluded to the evolution of the Big South's online profile, from the main site (still clearly the pillar supporting everything else in Conference cyberspace) to the full family of affiliated sites and services now available and interconnected, but it's time for a quick review and shameless plug--a fairly fast guide to what's out there in the Big South world...

SHOUT was the first new member of this "web set", with new info and perspectives, but also linking back to the main site (and indeed all the member sites). Now scanning SHOUT shows you not only the blog posts, but also the recent updates to Big South info on Facebook and Twitter--along with the links that will allow you to become a fan or follow us! You'll also see the Big South Vortex, offering a pocket version of the main site with links to recent articles and areas of the site (a feature you can copy to your own blogs or pages).

The addition of a YouTube channel (YouTube.com/BigSouthSports) followed, and allowed a new venue for the array of 25th Anniversary videos and promotional clips for the Conference. With another season about to roll in, look for fun and exciting new videos showing up there soon.

Not long after that channel signed on, the social networking dynamic duo of Facebook and Twitter (Twitter.com/BigSouthSports) welcomed the Big South. To make those sites work at their best for everyone, we want to see more activity--for example, let's get the number of Facebook Fans up to a thousand so we can have a personalized page address rather than an awkward number! We are a LONG way away from that figure now, but if the word gets out, we can get there quickly. The same goes for Twitter--no one's expecting a million followers, but let's pop that over a thousand and see how far we can go (in other words, we're not catching Ashton Kutcher, but it's time to leapfrog some of these other conferences and their numbers)!

Of course, I'm talking about legitimate fans and followers...not spammers and their ilk. Our Twitter count would be far higher if we hadn't been blocking several along the way, but we intend to keep an eye on the gate...

So--use the links, cross from site to site in the Big South Family: rely on BigSouthSports.com as the center, but enjoy the other elements as they fit into your world. We want to make the Big South a growing part of your experience online.

Now it's your turn--let us know how to do just that: make comments, suggestions, etc. (through any of our available media). Are we where we need to be--and if not, where should we be in the growing number of online outlets? What should we be doing and what could we be doing better? Help us out so we can be there for you.

That's all for now...keep your countdowns rolling--ten days until Football Media Day, and then it's rapid-fire right into all the fall sports seasons!