ONU Esports & Live Tweeting

    Homecoming 2023 went off without a hinge at ONU as students gathered at a variety of great events that were offered this weekend on campus, some of these events included the ONU Homecoming football game and Band-O-Rama. On Sunday, I was given the opportunity to watch one of my fellow classmates, Justin Brown, and the ONU Valorant Esports team as they competed against DSU in a best of three series that was broadcasted live on Twitch. Twitch is an American video live streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to offering music broadcasts, creative content, and "in real life" streams. 

    I was also given the opportunity to cover this match in a live tweeting session on X. I began this session with a promotional tweet reminding my followers that I will be covering this match and also provided them with a link to watch the broadcast live. I utilized hashtags throughout my session to increase viewership and engagement, some of these hashtags included words or phrases directly rated to this industry and sector. I used the hashtag "#onuhome23" in all of my posts as a way for those following this hashtag to view all tweets in a single feed as they follow along. As the first Valorant match begun, I posted that the game had started and to tune in now on the live broadcast. I have played Valorant before and used to play frequently with friends when the game first released, however I have since stopped and watching them play at such a high level made for an enjoyable Sunday afternoon. ONU came out to a hot start in the first match with a quick score of 3-0 after three rounds. This momentum continued throughout the remainder of match one as they beat DSU 13-1 in match one. The bears spirits were high to say the least, and you could feel the confidence surging from the players through the screen. Match two began shortly after and my tweeting continued, I posted that match 2 was now live on Twitch and provided the link as well. I began to notice that my fellow classmates were also covering this event, I began to retweet their posts and hopefully boost engagement under these hashtags. Anyways, ONU continued to dominate in match 2, however DSU was fighting back this time with a score of 7-4 heading into halftime. But, the bears were not going to let this one slip away from them as they rallied back and did not let DSU score another point the rest of the match. ONU won match 2 in convincing fashion with a final score of 13-4, what a day to be a bear! I was very impressed by the talent on our ONU Valorant Team and maybe even inspired to eventually pick the game back up a bit. 

    This was a great way to cap off my Homecoming 2023 weekend and I wish the best of luck to our ONU Esports teams in their seasons going forward. Go Bears!