The explosive growth of social media over the past four years has drastically changed how the Giants and Patriots market themselves and connect with fans compared to the two teams' most recent Super Bowl trips.
"It's a whole new world compared to last time," Nilay Shah, the Giants' director of digital media, said in an interview.
When the Giants and Patriots reached the Super Bowl in 2008, Twitter barely existed, Facebook had less than 100 million users, and Google+ wasn't even a gleam in Larry Page's eye.
Today, Facebook has grown to more than 845 million users, Twitter has become an integral communication tool of the sports and media worlds, and Google+ now claims around 100 million members. Other sharing sites such as YouTube have swelled in popularity too.
"Last time we were here, the social world was still sort of new for us, and our main communication method was email," Shah said. "We didn't focus on it a lot back then, but coming back now we knew we had to place a lot of emphasis on it, find a way to incorporate our fans as much as possible and make them a part of the experience."
The Giants are among professional sports' most social media-savvy teams. But Fred Kirsch, the Patriots' vice president of content, said that growing social networks have played a real role in fan outreach and marketing during New England's Super Bowl run as well.
When the team won the AFC Championship, it decided to run a contest giving away free trips to the Super Bowl for fans who worked in healthcare, law enforcement, the military, firefighting or education. Kirsch said that the team was able to promote the contest effectively in a short time thanks to Facebook and Twitter, gathering about a thousand nominations.
"It made it tough to choose the winners but it was well worth it," Kirsch told Mashable in an email.
The Giants, meanwhile, have run a number of promotions built entirely around social media. They installed a button on the team website to allow fans to follow more than a dozen players on Twitter before Super Bowl XLVI with one click. They have a player shooting behind-the-scenes footage — but 10,000 new fans have to "Like" the team's Facebook page to unlock each day's content. They are even hosting a "Social Media Night" on Thursday, in which a number of players will participate in a live webcast from the team hotel, answering fan questions sent via Twitter and Facebook. Four more players are hosting exclusive Google+ Hangouts, each with five chosen fans who joined their Google+ Circles.
Tyson Goodridge was one of the fans selected for a Hangout with linebacker Mark Herzlich. Goodridge, who works as a social media director for a marketing agency, told Mashable his two young sons wanted to ask what players eat before games, while he wanted to ask what goes through the players' minds in the moments before the ball is snapped.
"It creates a level of intimacy that is so cool," Goodridge said. "Anyone can know all his stats, but in this case it's a private session where he's not in the locker room. It's more relaxed, more informal, a chance to know the guy behind the uniform."
That, said Shah, epitomizes the wealth of new engagement possibilities opened up by social media's maturation since 2008.
"We've always tried to provide the best content possible, but before that might have meant just putting up exclusive-access videos and that was it," he said. "Now we're able to give the fans more and make them feel like they have a voice."
BONUS GALLERY: Who to Follow on Twitter for the Super Bowl XLVI Scoop
The New York Giants are the "road" team in Indianapolis, and this is the franchise's official Twitter account.
The New England Patriots will be the "home" team on Super Bowl Sunday in Indy. Follow this official team account for the stream out of Foxborough.
Shalise Manza Young is the Patriots beat writer for the Boston Globe. Follow her for the day-to-day on what Bill Belichick is doing to try for a fourth Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.
Ian Rapoport also reports on the Patriots and NFL, but for the Boston Herald. Following both him and Young will give you a taste of what it's like to be a local Boston sports fan right now.
Ralph Vacchiano covers the Giants for the New York Daily News. Follow him for the latest on how Eli Manning and company are prepping for the Pats.
Garafolo is the Giants beat writer for New Jersey's Star-Ledger. Between him and Vacchiano, you should have every Giants angle covered.
Patriots receiver Branch was the Super Bowl MVP the last time the Patriots won it all, in 2005. He's also very active on Twitter, which is a bonus for fans seeking to add a human element to the game.
Battista covers the NFL for The New York Times. She's sure to churn out a couple nice features between now and Feb. 5, her deadline game-recaps are second to none, and she's also a good follow for real-time Twitter updates.
Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider and his 1.2 million followers dwarf nearly everyone else in sports media and serve as a testament to his continuous steam of breaking news, opinions and scuttlebutt. He's sure to provide plenty of interesting nuggets from around the league leading up to Super Bowl Sunday.
Patriots receiver Welker puts up numbers; he's scored 10 touchdowns so far this year and has nearly 300,000 Twitter followers. His funny, off-the cuff tweets make him worth keeping up with.
Rosenthal writes about the NFL for NBCSports.com and, like Schefter, will provide a wealth of information from around the league as the NFL heads into its biggest weekend.
Tuck is a star defensive end for the Giants and will be key to harassing Tom Brady into mistakes and miscues on Super Bowl Sunday. On Twitter, he posts frequently and interacts well with fans.
Barnwell covers the NFL for Grantland.com, and he'll surely bring some good and detailed analysis to get fans -- with or without a specific rooting interest -- primed for Super Bowl XLVI.
Sports Illustrated's senior NFL writer is particularly good about responding to fan questions and comments on Twitter. See if he'll answer your Super Bowl queries!
The official account of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee is a must-follow for fans going to the game. It will function as one of several channels directing fans to entertainment venues and addressing logistical concerns from the committee's social meda command center.
The New York Giants are the "road" team in Indianapolis, and this is the franchise's official Twitter account.
The New England Patriots will be the "home" team on Super Bowl Sunday in Indy. Follow this official team account for the stream out of Foxborough.
Shalise Manza Young is the Patriots beat writer for the Boston Globe. Follow her for the day-to-day on what Bill Belichick is doing to try for a fourth Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.
Ian Rapoport also reports on the Patriots and NFL, but for the Boston Herald. Following both him and Young will give you a taste of what it's like to be a local Boston sports fan right now.
Ralph Vacchiano covers the Giants for the New York Daily News. Follow him for the latest on how Eli Manning and company are prepping for the Pats.
Garafolo is the Giants beat writer for New Jersey's Star-Ledger. Between him and Vacchiano, you should have every Giants angle covered.
Patriots receiver Branch was the Super Bowl MVP the last time the Patriots won it all, in 2005. He's also very active on Twitter, which is a bonus for fans seeking to add a human element to the game.
Battista covers the NFL for The New York Times. She's sure to churn out a couple nice features between now and Feb. 5, her deadline game-recaps are second to none, and she's also a good follow for real-time Twitter updates.
Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider and his 1.2 million followers dwarf nearly everyone else in sports media and serve as a testament to his continuous steam of breaking news, opinions and scuttlebutt. He's sure to provide plenty of interesting nuggets from around the league leading up to Super Bowl Sunday.
Patriots receiver Welker puts up numbers; he's scored 10 touchdowns so far this year and has nearly 300,000 Twitter followers. His funny, off-the cuff tweets make him worth keeping up with.
Rosenthal writes about the NFL for NBCSports.com and, like Schefter, will provide a wealth of information from around the league as the NFL heads into its biggest weekend.
Tuck is a star defensive end for the Giants and will be key to harassing Tom Brady into mistakes and miscues on Super Bowl Sunday. On Twitter, he posts frequently and interacts well with fans.
Barnwell covers the NFL for Grantland.com, and he'll surely bring some good and detailed analysis to get fans -- with or without a specific rooting interest -- primed for Super Bowl XLVI.
Sports Illustrated's senior NFL writer is particularly good about responding to fan questions and comments on Twitter. See if he'll answer your Super Bowl queries!
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