Sports Genius: Types of Pages to Annotate

1. Primary source documentsThis category includes transcripts of speeches, memos, press releases, letters, emails, official documents and other sources. An example is Stephen Curry’s MVP acceptance speech, which was transcribed by ear and annotated on Genius.

2. Longform Features and Special ReportsThese will be much longer than general news or op-ed pieces, and take the time to investigate a subject in-depth. A good example is the Sports Illustrated feature about how New Orleans Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson coped with his girlfriend’s suicide.

3. Personal essaysThink of The Players’ Tribune. Players offer personal perspectives that we wouldn’t otherwise read, and annotation can often help bring new points of view to them.

4. RecapsBefore the Web Annotator came along, Sports Genius recapped games and gained minimal viewership. Now, we can provide context to recaps on other outlets.

5. Op-eds and “Hot Takes”“Op-ed” means opinion-editorial. These pages are usually written by someone with expertise on a subject, arguing from a particular point of view: they are designed to be persuasive.

6. Profiles and InterviewsThese will give in-depth looks at a particular personality. Since the focus is on one person, there are all kinds of ways to expand them; you can even look to get the subject themselves involved.

7. ColumnsColumns are written by the same person on a regular basis. If you have a favorite columnist, annotate their column, share your work with the community, and show the columnist.

Original ContentPart of Sports Genius’ charm is how we blend original content on-site into our annotation toolbox. Fan-driven highlight material for quick consumption is king today—GIFs and top plays are plastered everywhere, especially on social media. In the past, we’ve ranked the Top 5 Plays of Super Bowl XLIX and chronicled rapper-athletes. If you have an original, creative idea for Sports Genius to annotate on-site, go for it!