Woods passed on a traditional question-and-answer session with reporters leading up to his next PGA Tour appearance, which comes this week at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina. Instead, he answered a series of questions submitted by fans via Facebook and Twitter.
The golfer announced the switcheroo late last week. This Monday, he posted a 14-minute video of himself answering 19 fan queries to his personal website. In the video, tagged "press conference" and "2012 season," Woods reads questions from a sheet of paper then gives answers while seated on a couch. He covers topics including his favorite pro golf memories, how many practice rounds he'll play before upcoming tournaments and how he decides which clubs to use when.
"We wanted to have a little bit more direct interaction with fans, and they've been very good to him over the years. We're probably a little bit behind with social media and this is a way to do that," Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, told ESPN.com last Friday.
While the video does give Woods a more direct connection with fans, the larger message-controlling benefits for him are more significant.
| NFL Free Agents Gain New Power With Social MediaWoods doesn't have to answer to reporters who might ask him about topics such as his 40th place finish at the Masters earlier this month, criticism he received after kicking a club during that tournament or his longer term performance slump. Instead, he curates a list of softball questions -- identifying the fans who asked them solely by first name -- and has as much time as he wants to prepare answers. No surprises, no controversial -- or interesting, depending on your perspective -- questions.
An athlete of Woods' stature taking to social media in place of, and not just to complement, traditional media interviews is a big step. We'll see if other major sports stars follow suit.
Will more big-name athletes replace press conferences with events like this? Does the public benefit, or not? Let us know in the comments.