Charlotte Wilder, writer for SB Nation
Beyond the blue check, there’s nothing that says “I made it” like having a parody Twitter account set up by a complete stranger. Charlotte Wilder, a writer for sports website SB Nation, takes these internet interactions in stride.
“I try to be who I am,” she says. “That’s what people connect to. If you were just sort of playing by your own moral compass and what you think is funny, that’s going to come through.”
Wilder uses the platform to tell jokes and interact with sports fans, which in turn earned her loyal readers; Twitter also helped secure Wilder her current job and previous role at USA Today.
“It’s a great way to make connections and network and be part of this very small sports media community,” she says. “There are not a ton of jobs at national places [anymore]. There are so many talented writers; there needs to be a reason to hire me.”
Wilder, who has about 22,500 Twitter followers, tweets all things sports, from NASCAR to the National Football League.
Wilder’s broad sports reporting allows her to explore the wide range of human experiences through these athletes and situations, she says.
She recently commented on a widely shared sports story: NBA star Kevin Love’s admission of panic attacks.
The Cleveland Cavaliers power forward penned an essay for The Players’ Tribune about his struggle with panic attacks and the stigma of receiving mental health aid as a man and an athlete.
Wilder tweeted her support for Love before speaking on HLN, a basic cable spin off of CNN, about her own experiences with anxiety.
“I’ve decided it’s going to be something I talk about,” she says. “Any time I’ve opened up about it, people are like, ‘Yes, I struggle with this too.’ The thing that’s helped me so much is feeling like I’m not alone.”
That sense of comradery, whether it’s silly or serious, is what makes Wilder love her job.
“People care so much about sports and people are so passionate,” she says. “When you write about people they care about or teams they care about or a moment they care about, its really cool to have an audience that's going to be interested in something because they've already bought into what you’re writing about.”