It’s a step in the right direction, certainly, but I think Chad and Mazz could be doing more with their individual Twitter accounts. Here’s my friendly advice for them.

(Cross-posted to my LiveWorld video page).

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Zik Daniel (the lucky man in the photo above) that keep me jazzed about social media.

Zik’s a Caribbean-born cricket fanatic who now lives in North Carolina, and for the past two weeks, we’ve been exchanging a flurry of Twitter messages during the Test cricket matches between the West Indies (his team) and Australia (my team, thanks to two years of living in Australia).

I found Zik through a search on Summize that I conducted as the two countries were facing off in Jamaica. I had been itching to jump into some Twitter cricket chatter during the game, and Zik’s live Twittering and Flickring from the cricket ground in Kingston indicated he was certainly someone worth following and engaging.

So, I followed and engaged.

Zik’s impressed that I’m an American who knows something about the game, and I admire his obvious passion for the sport. Here’s just a sample of our entertaining exchanges:

zik @BryanPerson Truely a wonderful thing to be discussing cricket with you on twitter. One of these days you’ll have to join us live

zik @BryanPerson The fact that in cricket a result other than win or lose is possible makes it even more appealing to me and much closer

BryanPerson: @Zik: 5 days and more than 30 hours of cricket — and a draw. As an American, it’s one part of the game that sometimes rankles me.

BryanPerson: @Zik: Into the final seven overs. I think the West Indies will survive.

zik @BryanPerson In the Caribbean, cricket is not just a game, it’s community .

zik @BryanPerson Enough time for my palms to be mad sweaty right about now. If another wicket falls I’m gonna need meds

zik @BryanPerson It’s a new stadium built for the WC2007. This is the 1st test match being played on it. Infuriating incompetence nonetheless

zik @BryanPerson Building a new stadium without adequate drainage is unforgiveable. Heads should roll, but alas none will.

BryanPerson: @zik You mean they can’t get a decent drainage system? Just don’t understand how it takes 3+ hours to get game going after rain stopped.

As these things go on Twitter, our conversations have now expanded to include politics, too.

It’s the people, stupid

It may be the tools of social media that initially facilitate the connections between people who share common interests, like cricket or the Caribbean. But it’s ultimately the people behind those tools – people such as Zik – that make social media engagement so compelling.

Zik is headed down to Barbados to take in the third and final Test between Australia and the West Indies in person. That contest begins on Thursday, June 12.

I can’t wait for the conversation.

(Photo courtesy of Zik Daniel) 

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I didn’t know if RedSoxCast was a man or woman, or where he or she lived. There were seldom — or never — any personal Tweets to give us any clues, either. It was all business with @RedSoxCast — the business of Red Sox games, that is.

And then Laura Conaway, web editor of the NPR morning show The Bryant Park Project, did a short segment on yesterday’s program about our fanatical group of Red Sox Twitterers (she reports we’re more than 400 strong!) that at long last gave us a peek under the hood of @RedSoxCast’s true identity.

He’s Jordan McKible, he grew up in New Hampshire, and he’s a passionate Red Sox fan. You can see and hear how Jordan got started in Twittering about the Red Sox in an audio/video slideshow that Conaway put together.

And as for the Red Sox themselves? Well, they’re off to a promising 3-1 start and visit the Toronto Blue Jays in a 7:15 contest tonight. I’m counting on Jordan to be at his Twittering best from the game’s first pitch.

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It’ll be an unusual start to the baseball season for my beloved Red Sox this season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05am on Tuesday, as Boston and Oakland play the first of two games from the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Kind of cool, huh?

There aren’t many better days on the calendar than Opening Day for those of who’ve lived and breathed baseball all our lives, particularly (or at least we like to think so) here in Boston. And coming off a World Series title last October, there’s no reason not to be more excited than ever in 2008.

I’ll also admit to being especially giddy about resuming my baseball Twittering action with fellow Sox fans like @RedSoxCast, @JackHodgson, @SarahWurrey, @ChipGriffin, @KyleFlaherty, @DougH, @ShelIsrael, and @TDefren, along with newcomers such as @AStrout and @JStorerJ.

It’s not a stretch to say that the communal Red Sox Twittering last season — starting right with @RedSoxCast’s pseudo play-by-play messages in April — played a big role in hooking me into Twitter. That sense of community built around our shared interest in the Old Towne Team also made the playoff run in October and ultimate the championship celebration all the more enjoyable to revel in.

So fair warning, Twitter followers. For the next, oh, six or seven months, watch for a high level of messages using the #RedSox (or similar) hashtag starting at around 7:00 Eastern most evenings. We Red Sox fans are a passionate bunch.

Play ball!

Following Red Sox Twitter posts:

• Pseudo-play-by-play updates from @RedSoxCast
• #RedSox hashtag aggregation on Hashtags.org, Twemes, and Tweet Scan.

(Flickr photo by Oscalito)

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