Social Media Breakdown- Bob Ryan

T: GlobeBobRyan

Bob Ryan is Boston in the fullest sense of the word. He started as an intern for The Boston Globe not long after graduating from Boston College in the 1960s. He gained national notoriety when he became the Globe’s beat writer for the Celtics just before the 1970s, going on to cover some of the NBA’s best players, such as Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In his career, Ryan covered multiple NBA Finals, Final Fours, World Series and Super Bowls and even the Olympics.

Ryan comes from a time where social media flat out did not exist, let alone prevalent. This is probably a major reason that his online presence is rather lackluster. His Twitter account, this only social media of his I could find, boasts a loyal 91.1K followers. A great number for the average account, but somewhat low compared to other notable writers, such as his friend from the Globe, Peter Gammons, who has nearly 600K. His headshot also leaves something to be desired; blurry and not a great likeness.

Ryan retired from full-time sports writing in 2012 and probably does not need a great social media presence like Gammons. However, he is still active in the journalism world, doing a regular podcast and doing irregular columns for the Globe. His renown in the industry has not dwindled, the reason his reach is still so great, even if his social media is not. With some time and effort, Ryan’s impact in the journalism world today might be even greater than it was 30 years ago, when his work appeared in the Globe on a daily basis.