Inside The Complex, Hidden World of Content Programming
As a content programmer growing up in the sports media industry, it was always a running joke amongst myself and my colleagues that nobody outside the profession understood exactly what we do. When your parents asked what you do for a living? Good luck explaining it to them. Then there are all the times we get confused with actual software engineers — Oh, content programming? So you do code for the mobile app? Very cool!
Now, don’t get me wrong, as an Asian-American growing up with parents who either wanted me to be in the medical or tech profession, being mistaken for a coder wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But of course, content programmers do zero coding, zero programming, and zero software developing work at all — far from it. So how do we describe what content programmers do? Are we content marketers? Strategists? I served up both suggestions to a former boss of mine once, and he shot both of those titles down quicker than the amount of time I had to write the push notification for the NBA season being postponed last year.
The sad part about these unsung heroes of sports media is that while it is funny that we’re often confused for completely different roles, the reality is that our skill set — while diversified and simultaneously highly-specialized — often gets little attention from hiring managers who are looking to fill the many open jobs revolving around content. But why? Anyone who has worked in content programming knows that we can play just as integral, if not more integral a role than the writers who created the content themselves. Without the programmers behind the curtain who are obsessing over how to package content in the most engaging way possible, would that same piece of content get the same amount of eyeballs and pageviews? If you’re skeptical, I’ll tell you why that answer is probably no.
My background as a content programmer was primarily in the mobile app space, specifically in push notification strategy and curation. I’ve sent thousands of mobile alerts in my lifetime. What are these notifications exactly? They’re, in essence, 120-character text messages sent to millions of people you’ll never meet in your life. That alone can drum up some anxiety depending on the person, but the job is more nuanced than that. What else is a content programmer thinking about before they hit send on that alert or tweet?
What subset of users should receive this news? Will this many people care about it?
What time should they receive it? Are these people about to go to bed? Are they on their way to work?
Did I beat that other competitor’s app that inevitably is trying to do the same thing as me? How many of them are out there?
Should I phrase it this way, or that way? Should I ‘tease’ the information?
If I tease it, how much is too much? Will I offend my users if I frame it this way?
If I frame it this way, is this actually representative of this person’s work? (More on that later)
Should I use an emoji to add some voice / show that we’re the ‘cool’ brand?
Should I attach an image or GIF with this to make it stand out? Or even a video?
I’m sure I’m missing something on that list, but with each programming decision that has to be made, an exponential number of tentacles branch out that can cause even the most seasoned programmer to second-guess themselves. And don’t you dare get it wrong — that typo or missed fact check will be all up over Twitter before you know it for everyone to rip you apart.
A fascinating look at the impact of content programming is the recent drama around Steve Kerr and his comments comparing the 2018-19 season, where the Warriors lost the Finals in crushing fashion to the Raptors, to last season, where GSW finished with the worst record in the NBA. The coach appeared on a podcast from The Ringer, and one segment in particular took off this week, thanks to this tweet from NBC Sports’ Drew Shiller:
The 275-character tweet made a bit of noise across the NBA landscape, and even more noise on Warriors Twitter. Shiller played the role of content programmer here, and some might even say he did a great job on first glance. He drew attention to a podcast that many people likely would’ve never listened to, and he even garnered a response from Durant himself:
But he also drew a response from Kerr, who went on to express his anger with how his words were construed, and called out Shiller by name, saying what he did was ‘irresponsible and damaging’:
The key was to throw Durant into the framing of his tweet despite no mention of KD from Kerr in that entire segment. Smart money is on Shiller knowing exactly what he was doing by tweeting what he did — Kerr’s job status is starting to become a topic of debate, and every tuned in Warriors fan knows of the unspoken drama around KD’s final year with Golden State. Shiller absolutely knew his audience, and the likely outcome of tossing Durant’s name into the conversation. But he also paid the price:
The irony of it all is Shiller’s known for being one of Kerr’s staunchest supporters on Twitter, but it was a programming decision that altered his media relationship with the Warriors’ head coach. Sure, what Shiller wrote may have been true to an extent — it was indeed Durant’s final season, and he might not have gotten along too well with Kerr by then, but the actual context of the conversation was lost with one tweet. That is the impact of content programming in a nutshell, and how much one’s reputation — and the company they’re representing — teeters every day on the job.
It’s a highly important, ever-evolving, yet thankless profession at times, but it’s these compounding decisions that content programmers make, when made consistently correct in the moment, that can elevate a company’s brand, perception, and the all-important metrics tied to engagement. If you love sports media, if you love branded content, or you’re just a fan of great sports content in general, start looking into who some of these talented individuals are. In this prime digital media age, odds are they’re the ones who cultivated that loyalty you feel to your favorite sports media company.