On Tuesday Major League Baseball launched their own dedicated social network called MLB Fans. We’ve since been playing around with the platform and it is immediately apparent that they are not fooling around. This is no bad replica of a Twitter or Facebook—it is a fine-tuned social network platform.
When you first begin to sign up, you are prompted to insert a username, a photo, and your name and location to “help your friends find you.” Right from the start, you can see that this app was not done half-heartedly; it fully embraces and replicates all the hallmarks of social networks.
Once you get into the actual app, you realize all the different features it has. There are standard areas, like a “Pulse Section,” which shows the most current posts from MLB teams and from the people you follow. There is also a profile page that shows all of your information: your followers, people you are following, and notifications.
The most unique part of the app, however, is the capsules. Capsules are like little profile pages, but with slightly different characteristics. For example, each team has a capsule (which would be expected), but you can also create personal capsules. You get to name your capsule and categorize it however you like, and then you get to choose who can see it and who can post in it. While they function as timelines for teams and other official MLB entertainment (for example, some capsules are “I was there,” “Happening now,” and “Amazing plays”), they can also be your little network within the larger whole.
And probably the most telling feature of the app is a direct link to the MLB’s official app, MLB.com At Bat. Major League Baseball proves here that they truly meant for MLB Fans to be a pure social network site. They really tried to make a space specifically for their fans to interact with each other and their favorite teams—and it was a resounding success in our opinion.
