In my role at the University of Central Missouri, social media is among my top priorities. This summer, I’ll be working with our Sports Information Director to establish a more defined plan for our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram presence. As such, I’m constantly thinking of ways we can better our social media activity. Not just for our reach and engagement, but for the fans’ consumption.

Though the idea is far from revolutionary, there is one aspect of Twitter I’m looking to utilize for next year: Twitter Conversations.

Not familiar? It’s the term Twitter uses to describe threaded conversations in exchange. Check out the video from Twitter:

The idea is simple: When you click ‘Reply’ to a tweet, the tweets are connected by a simple line. How do I want to use them?

To make play-by-play easier on our fans.

When it comes to football, they could be strung together by drive or merely generic updates as pictured. Worried about tracking down the first quarter tweet to ‘Reply’ to? Not a worry — Just open the tweet in it’s own tab. At the end of any given play or quarter, just head back to the tab and update the most recent action. It’s an easy step that keeps a frame of reference nearby for the game’s progression.

I’d be mistaken to exclude a baseball example as we’re in the thick of conference play the collegiate level and a dozen (or so) games into MLB play. Particularly in a game with a lot of offense, it can be difficult to track baseball play-by-play within Twitter.

Make it easier: Thread the play-by-play each half inning or so. Fans have the options to condense the conversation, as indicated in the video, or see it all. Last night, the Atlanta Braves went back-to-back-to-back with home runs to top the Philadelphia Phillies. Imagine those strung together, particularly in the heat of the game.

I’ll admit: The appearance could be rough, and I haven’t seen threaded conversations in Twitter’s new layout which emphasizes tweets with engagement. However, in the right situation (end of period, end of quarter, end of game) — I think the appearance could be an asset to both engagement and fans’ consumption.