h3cz: The Golden Rule of Twitter – Dexerto

Hector h3cz Rodriguez is the owner of one of esports most popular properties, OpTic Gaming.

His vision has helped create a peerless franchise, where tournament viewership can rest solely on the performance of his team.

Through daily video logs and regular streaming, as team owner h3cz is every bit as famous as his high profile players, amassing his dedicated audience.

Social media is a vital cog in the OpTic Gaming machine and has been key to building their reputation.

Still, social media continues to be a minefield, even for veterans like Hector. In the first of a regular column, he discuss his own experiences and how theyve helped mould the way OpTic approach platforms like Twitter:

The Golden Rule of Twitter

I have one particular rule with the OpTic players and staff; no swearing on Twitter, the main reason you need to be professional in esports, regardless of your role, is because first impressions are everything.

A message that I like to drill into anyone associated with OpTic, is that you never know whos watching. Whether you like it or not, the root of the competitive gaming industry is money from advertising via brand sponsorship.

It makes everything go around and without it, all wed have is Gamebattles. As esports expands beyond the endemic companies who are aware of the industry, you get into non-endemic space with companies who want a piece of the action, and it would be naive to think that you know which companies are thinking about sponsoring you. Large brands will always have researchers out to identify the next big thing.

If those brands arent familiar with the accepted terminology in esports, they could be put off by you Tweeting out that you f****** hate this TV show. Judging a book by its cover is something people tell you not to do, but its the first thing that a company will do when starting a business relationship.

A relatable example would be when you go for a job interview, regardless of the position, youre going to wear and suit and tie to put your best foot forward and make a good impression.

Im not saying that you have to always be squeaky clean, because a lot of sponsors will allow you creative freedom, but you have to remember that people from outside of the esports world will not read the things you say in the tone in which you tell them.

Always be aware of how you are perceived. There is a huge difference between audio and text; it is a lot easier to give context while filming, tone, facial expressions, body language etc. on the other hand, on Twitter its almost impossible to detect the tone of the author, especially when its someone you dont know.

The same rule goes with sarcasm so avoid when possible. An example I always like to give about Twitter swearing happened back when the Old Men of OpTic were playing Ghosts in 2014. It completely changed the way I viewed social media and the way I interacted with it.

A young streamer had Tweeted at me that I was missing shots because I was getting old. In what I considered a joking manner, I responded F*** you dude as in HA HA F you dude, quit bustin my chops.

Not an hour had passed when I was contacted by the mother of this young fan, who said that she wasnt happy about the way I had talked to her son. I quickly realised that I didnt know how old he was, I didnt know his circumstances and that responding in that way was leaving me open to potential problems. She read that Tweet as a direct insult to her son, when I meant it in an entirely harmless way.

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I respect her vigilance as a parent. While I probably wouldnt have reacted in the same way, it taught me that you couldnt assume how someone will read something; you cant assume that they know the context or the back story and instead of having to explain myself, my Tweet or my teammates Tweets, from the moment that happened, I stopped swearing on Twitter and in turn, I implemented the no swearing rule for the rest of OpTic I too needed to be vigilant and protect me, them and OpTic from any misunderstanding.

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h3cz: The Golden Rule of Twitter - Dexerto