New app aids yapping
A customer tries out the new Apple iPhone 5 at the Manhattan Fifth Avenue flagship store on the first morning it went on sale. (Sept. 21, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
Never before in the history of Earth has it been so easy for sports fans to share their opinions publicly – insightful, moronic and everywhere between.
So, we begin with an obvious question for Eric Goldstein, an Islanders fan who grew up in Great Neck and is co-founder of an aptly named app called “SportsYapper:’’ Why?
He said it began last year during a coffee shop chat with Dave Grossman, a friend and fellow sports fan who like Goldstein had enjoyed previous success in the social media business.
“We were saying it’s crazy that in social media, where it’s becoming this global phenomenon and you are seeing apps that cater to specific interests, how is there not social media just for sports fans?’’ Goldstein said.
Didn’t God create Twitter for this purpose? Goldstein said the problem with Twitter is that if, say, one is inclined to post frequent observations about an ongoing Islanders game, one’s non-Islanders-fan followers quickly grow irritated.
What about old-fashioned message boards? Goldstein said in addition to being, well, old-fashioned, they do not let people create conversations with defined groups of friends, as SportsYapper does.
That helps when open debates devolve into mindless name-calling, as many inevitably do.
It will be difficult to break through the digital clutter, but the service is advertising heavily, its partners include the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira, and the Islanders recently signed up as the site’s first team partner.
“We decided we have to do this,’’ Goldstein said. “Like you had Sports Illustrated for magazines, then ESPN for TV, there is going to be a brand that owns social media for sports, and we can do it. We should do it.’’
