As their follower and like counts grow, Alabama student-athletes have learned to adapt their social media platforms, like TikTok and Instagram, to enhance their collegiate athletic careers.
Through these platforms, athletes can connect with fans, post about events and highlight who they are when they’re not competing.
Kyla Dunaway is one of the volleyball team’s go-to right side hitters. She has amassed nearly 25,000 followers across her various social media accounts, and she said her platforms are a great tool for personal branding because users can curate their feed to make it unique. She said she posts to show that there’s more to her than being an athlete.
“I post a lot about my faith and different aspects of my life,” Dunaway said of her Instagram account.
While Dunaway uses her Instagram account to highlight her personal life, she focuses her TikTok feed on more goofy dances and “Get Ready With Me” videos.
“On TikTok, I can really use that to show my personality,” she said. “So people can kind of gauge on what it truly looks like to be a student-athlete.”
In order to connect with her fans, Zaay Green, a point guard for the women’s basketball team, made her own lo`go and highlight videos to show to her followers.
“I just make sure I’m reposting anything Alabama basketball-related so [my followers] know that’s the program and that is who I’m a part of,” Green said. “So just reposting and posting if I have merch on, helps me with my brand.”
Though she works to increase her social media presence, Green said she ensures a balance between her social media and her athletic career.
“After 7 p.m., I stay off social media and I won’t get back on it until the morning,” Green said. “So I think keeping that balance helps me.”
Both athletes said it took some time to learn how to manage social media. For Dunaway, it took some trial and error, and she said it could get “overwhelming” if someone doesn’t have a system that works for them.
“I think the best thing for me, to keep up with both school, sports and different brand deals, is just trying to stay organized the best that I can,” Dunaway said. “So I always have a running spreadsheet of different deals.”
Putting the process of adjusting to socials and athletics aside, Dunaway and Green have received positive comments from fans on their media platforms and met their supporters after games or on campus. Green said her followers are very supportive and are consistantly watching her basketball videos. She said having that support system from people she doesn’t know is a positive aspect of what she does.
Similarly, Dunaway said she enjoys receiving positive messages from fans about her impact on them.
“It’s those small little things that really make a difference in someone’s life,” Dunaway said. “When I was younger, I followed all these amazing athletes, and it’s truly amazing to know that I grew up with role models and then I’m a role model for other people as well.”
