FS Arizona Inspires the Human Hashtag: Using Twitter to Spark a Trend

As the Arizona Diamondbacks battle the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West, FOX Sports Arizona is using the Twitter world to increase local excitement and get more people talking (and tweeting) about the team and its telecasts.

Last week when the D-backs & Giants played in San Francisco with the division lead on the line, FOX Sports Arizona worked to get the hashtag #beatSF (beat San Francisco) trending on Twitter during each game. FOX Sports Arizona sent out an initial tweet asking its followers to get #beatSF trending. As soon as the Giants fans Twitter feed @SF_Giants saw it, they asked their followers to show what Giants fans could do when it comes to trending topics and to Tweet out #beatAZ (to see how it all unfolded, check the timelines to the left).

What followed was @FOXSPORTSAZ soon became a trending topic in not only San Francisco, but nationally as well! During the telecast, FOX Sports Arizona gained over 150 new Twitter followers and the game produced the best television rating for the D-backs on the network since 2008. The hashtag #beatSF trended in Phoenix that night and on into the following morning as well.

When the D-backs returned to Phoenix two days later to play the Dodgers, FOX Sports Arizona and the D-backs established #beatLA as the Twitter hashtag for the series. The network incorporated the hashtag into its game promos and also showed it in-game via new #beatLA elevators.

The hashtag talk obviously resonated in Phoenix as one group of D-backs fans went so far as to paint their chests with #BEATLA for all three games of the series. They quickly became famous after FOX Sports Arizona cameras showed them in the stands and they were later interviewed in game. Soon thereafter, the group created its own Twitter page called @humanhashtag.

A photo of of them from the telecast sent out via FOX Sports Arizona’s Twitter feed was picked up by CNBC’s sports business reporter - and one of Twitter’s most-active users - Darren Rovell who re-tweeted it to his 111,000+ followers. In turn, it has been viewed over 6,200 times – and re-tweeted 112 times.

FOX Sports Arizona now has plans to use the @humanhashtag guys in Twitter hashtag promos. It is going to do green screen shoots and will have them paint their chests with the hashtag that applies to various D-backs series the rest of the season. And moving forward, the network has its sights set on using them in other hashtag promos for its other teams and initiatives in the future.