Technology is a crazy thing, and so it came to be that during an interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Wednesday, we were interrupted by a live Facebook broadcast.
As it turned out, Hendrick Motorsports was live-streaming all of its Media Day activities right on its Facebook page. This included roving reporter Sean Pragano, who had a camera crew with him.
When Pragano approached, he began with a simple question: "Hello, @jeff_gluck. Are you trying to get Dale onto Twitter?"
I'm not too quick on my feet when it comes to TV stuff (that's why I'm a writer), but I managed to mutter, "That's impossible..."
Earnhardt Jr. kindly steered me in the direction of a sponsor plug – in this case for my employer – and said, "Yeah, but you're on SB...what's it called?"
"SB Nation," I said helpfully.
"Yeah, SB Nation," Earnhardt Jr. said.
Pragano told us more about the live Facebook broadcast and said he and those watching at home were going to listen in on some of our interview.
Again, Earnhardt Jr. came to the rescue.
"Well, you can't listen in," he told Pragano, "because then people won't go read the story."
That's exactly right! This is a business that relies on page views. I wanted to high-five the guy. But for some reason, I threw him under the bus instead.
"Facebook people, what can we do to get Dale Jr. on Twitter?" I asked, putting him on the spot.
"I'm not saying I'll never do it, but not today," he said. "Probably not tomorrow."
"You guys need to write in and tell him this: He doesn't have to do it every day," I said, then turned back to the driver. "Even if you did it once a week..."
"I know...I know!" he said with the tone of a dude being nagged by his wife.
"Maybe like one tweet?" Pragano said.
"No!" Earnhardt Jr. said. "Why one!?"
I sensed there was a small chance we could wear him down, so I kept going.
"Even Mark Martin joined this week," I said.
"That's good," Earnhardt Jr. said dismissively. "Good for him."
Maybe it was a lost cause after all. In fact, that was becoming pretty clear. And Earnhardt Jr. had been saying for the past few years that he has no interest in Twitter (Here's his reasoning in both 2010 and 2011).
Still, this was a live broadcast, and so I stood my ground in hopes of saving some face.
"Tweet me and let me know why Dale Jr. should join Twitter," I said into the camera.
Earnhardt Jr. seemed to realize the only way to end the conversation was to pretend as though there was a chance.
"Yeah, give Jeff some creative ideas on why I would enjoy it," he said. "That's what I want to know. Tell me that."
Aha! Momentum! I seized it.
"They could do a top 10 reasons why you should join Twitter," I said.
"No, not why I should join it," he said. "I've heard that a million times. But what would I like about it?"
"Oh. I don't know," I replied. "I don't think you would like it. I think they would like it."
He didn't like that logic.
"I want to enjoy it!" he said. "What the heck?!"
So there you have it. Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. become Twitter's @DaleJr? It's highly doubtful.
But perhaps you, dear readers, have better suggestions for what he'd like about it than I do. In case you do, leave them in the comments section below.
If we get enough good responses, I'll print out this page and try to pass it to the future @DaleJr at Daytona.
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Comments
Best story ever.
I’m still convince that Earnhardt is one of the inanimate objects on Twitter.
Follow me on Twitter @MattWeaverSBN
Senior Writer and Editor for SBNation's NASCAR Ranting and Raving
Correspondent for SBNation's IndyCar Pop Off Valve Blog (http://www.popoffvalve.com/)
by MattWeaver on Jan 25, 2012 5:03 PM EST reply actions
he can talk back and forth with other celebrities
just have his pr guy handle most of it, and let him know when someone interesting mentions him. easy enough right? then he can retweet his JR motorsports drivers, raise their profiles, and get them more sponsors. more money for his teams
Follow me: @theshmoes.
by theshmoes on Jan 25, 2012 5:04 PM EST reply actions
I think Dale Jr would like Twitter, because it would give him a fan perspective. The way he sees the sport and the racing is different from how a fan sees it, because he’s experiencing it first hand. Maybe he cares, maybe he doesn’t. And maybe, the criticism from some of the other twitter uses, would push him to prove them wrong.
by Brittany9 on Jan 25, 2012 5:19 PM EST reply actions
I dont think he wants to be pestered every day for follows and RT. Kinda hard to see legit questions when all you see is "please follow and RT it’s my (insert whatever special) day.. I see it all to often on twitter. I also dont think he would want to disappoint the followers he would get.
by Tracy Sims on Jan 25, 2012 5:25 PM EST reply actions
Its Fan Interaction....
that Dale could turn ON and turn OFF, at his WILL. So many celebrities and well-knowns were turned off by the idea of Twitter. But, when they tried it, they actually enjoyed it. Tell Dale its like saying you don’t like a certain kind of food that you actually have never even tried. Back to the interaction. Its very simple. You can get a reading of what public opinion is on ANYTHING. Ask any question via twitter, Dale, and instantly you have thousands (if not more) of answers. You read the ones you choose, and don’t read the ones you choose. Try it Mr. Earnhardt, we think you’ll like it.
by DuchessF48 on Jan 25, 2012 5:27 PM EST reply actions
Why Twitter
Well I would say to Dale Jr this: It is fun. You may not think it’s fun but I have YET to speak to a person or hear a celebrity interview (sports or otherwise) who said once they tried it that they didn’t enjoy it. It means that most everyone that TRIES it likes it. you can interact with folks you would never see from the privacy of your own home. It would help you get that connection with your fans that you have never had. You have said many times you are shy by nature. Behind a keyboard it is much easier to be yourself so you can show even more of yourself when you feel like it. No reporters asking you the same questions. You can talk about what YOU want to talk about WHEN you want to talk about it.
by SubmarineMike on Jan 25, 2012 6:36 PM EST reply actions
from Twitter user @88_jr_nation
so he can follow Redskin players and news, and good for fantasy football news.
another reason- #DaleJr loves music…what better way to interact with music news and music lovers than twitter
by SubmarineMike on Jan 25, 2012 7:28 PM EST reply actions
Twitter
Dale Jr, think long and hard about tweeting. You know every word you post will be disected, analyzed, and criticized. Fans who crawl out from under the rocks will be posting hateful messages. You know this business better than most. There are ways your loyal fans keep in touch with you, the others don’t matter. You have a very open, honest way of dealing with the media. That is your nature, but many of them take advantage of that and pry deeper and deeper to get you to say something they can make a story out of.. Protect yourself. Your fans will understand your reasons. If you do decide to tweet, please do so with caution. Anything you say will be fodder for some people to chew on.
by factfinder on Jan 25, 2012 11:24 PM EST reply actions
factfinder, I agree. As a fan I would love to have him on twitter, but I hope for his sake he doesn’t do it. There are many ways he keeps in touch with his fans and we appreciate it and understand.
by carol-88-fan on Jan 26, 2012 7:56 AM EST up reply actions
From @Havey03 on twitter
I read some articles earlier this week regarding Whiskey River, and how Dale has always preferred to keep things private. However recently, he has been enjoying letting people see and learn more about him and who he is. With that in mind, Twitter would be the next step in letting people know more and find out more about who Dale is and what he thinks. The best part is, he would be in control of how far to let people in.
Twitter for Dale Jr however, doesn’t just need to be about his fans. Knowing Dale Jr is into sports & music, Twitter is the best source for news and information. Twitter breaks stories related to those industries quicker than any other media available.
Dale Jr could also use Twitter to break up the monotony of rain delays at the race track by having a q & a session with fans.
But I think the best way to get Dale on twitter is for you, Mr Gluck to go around to drivers such as Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Michael Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne & Scott Speed. Ask those drivers, who frequently use Twitter; what they enjoy most about being on twitter. Not just what they like, but why they like it. What they get out of it, beyond generating more fans, ’cause face it, Dale has enough of those. If you can get some real, honest answers out of those drivers and take them to Dale, that may be the best motivation yet to get Dale to give twitter a try.
Common sense is the most evenly distributed quality in all the world.
Everyone thinks they have enough.
by havey03 on Jan 26, 2012 8:23 AM EST reply actions
Dale, Jr. and twitter
I am ambivelant about Dale, Jr. going on twitter. First, I tend to agree with @MattWeaver and think that one of the inanimate objects is Dale, Jr. But then, most of them tweet in the middle of races so…
But, my ambivalence comes from the haters and how they will come out of the woodwork if Dale is on twitter. JJ can tell Dale about the haters that tweet and how hurtful their messages can be. Big negative; why should Dale subject himself to those jerks? Kasey can tell him that a tweet can cause a horrible uproar. Yet, both JJ and Kasey, as well as TJ Majors can tell him about the fun they have had exchanging tweets with fans at a quiet time…or when liver abuse is occurring.
What he would like…we could make him laugh.
I think if Dale were to have Laura or someone else from the PR department run his twitter page and post with a PR at the end of their tweets, it would work. When there was a tweet with no PR, we could know it was from Dale, Jr.
Carol Dahlberg
by RVnGrammy on Jan 26, 2012 8:53 PM EST reply actions
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