The Gophers athletics department will use Facebook and Twitter to announce fired head football coach Tim BrewsterâÄôs replacement. By using the ever-expanding social networking sites as vehicles for the announcement, the athletics department hopes to make fans feel more included and to gauge their reactions before the soon-to-follow press conference, athletics communications director Garry Bowman said. âÄúThereâÄôs been a real emphasis in the last couple of years on fan relations,âÄù Bowman said, adding, âÄúwe want our fansâÄô experiences to be positive with us and one of the ways we do that is asking for feedback.âÄù Bowman said to his knowledge, the University of Minnesota has never made an announcement of this magnitude via social networking sites. âÄúIâÄôm really interested to see what the feedback is like,âÄù he said. âÄúSo far itâÄôs been really positive, so I would anticipate us doing it more.âÄù University President Bob Bruininks told the Minnesota Daily last week that the University hopes to name a successor by the holidays, and Bowman said the decision could come sooner than that. Facebook fans of âÄúMinnesota GophersâÄù and âÄúGolden Gopher FootballâÄù will be able to see the announcement first, as will followers of the Twitter accounts âÄú@GopherAthleticsâÄù and âÄú@GoldenGopherFB.âÄù