• Apple News
  • Apply
  • Multimedia
  • Newsletter
  • Photo Gallery
  • Student Media
    • NewsWatch
    • Rebel Radio
    • The Daily Mississippian
    • The Ole MIss
Saturday, April 4, 2026
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Mississippian
  • News
    • All
    • ° Associated Student Body
    • ° Breaking News
    • ° Campus
    • ° National
    • ° Oxford
    • ° Prepping for Primaries
    • ° State
    ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution

    ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution

    Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience

    Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience

    Public opposition to Magnolia Materials asphalt plant rolls over to Oxford industrial park

    Public opposition to Magnolia Materials asphalt plant rolls over to Oxford industrial park

    Brett Young up to bat as UM Commencement speaker

    Brett Young up to bat as UM Commencement speaker

    Overby Center hosts documentary screening on famed ‘whiskey speech’

    Overby Center hosts documentary screening on famed ‘whiskey speech’

    UM Center for Community Engagement celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary with Voting Rights Summit

    UM Center for Community Engagement celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary with Voting Rights Summit

  • Arts & Culture
    • All
    • ° Events
    • ° Features
    • ° Listicles
    • ° Reviews
    Matthew Burdine pushes his canoeing tours out into the Mississippi River

    Matthew Burdine pushes his canoeing tours out into the Mississippi River

    Chinese and Arabic flagship programs take the stage at annual talent showcase

    Chinese and Arabic flagship programs take the stage at annual talent showcase

    Students stay in Oxford for spring break

    Bob Dylan Center brings special archival screening to Oxford

    Bob Dylan Center brings special archival screening to Oxford

    Review: Slayyyter’s ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’ will keep you on the dance floor

    Review: Slayyyter’s ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’ will keep you on the dance floor

    Sunday Bagels bakes up long lines at Oxford Community Market

    Sunday Bagels bakes up long lines at Oxford Community Market

  • Sports
    • All
    • ° Baseball
    • ° Basketball
    • ° Cross Country
    • ° Football
    • ° Golf
    • ° Rifle
    • ° Soccer
    • ° Softball
    • ° Tennis
    • ° Track & Field
    • ° Volleyball
    Three Rebels drive Ole Miss Tennis through SEC play 

    Three Rebels drive Ole Miss Tennis through SEC play 

    A look back at Ole Miss Men’s Basketball’s roller coaster of a season

    A look back at Ole Miss Men’s Basketball’s roller coaster of a season

    Ole Miss Baseball gets back in SEC win column with victory over Florida

    Ole Miss Baseball gets back in SEC win column with victory over Florida

    Ole Miss Baseball shakes up pitching rotation

    Ole Miss Baseball shakes up pitching rotation

    Ole Miss Football is back with spring drills

    Ole Miss Football is back with spring drills

    How to throw a baseball: the science before the swing

    How to throw a baseball: the science before the swing

  • Opinion
    • All
    • ° Ask a Philosopher
    • ° Diary of a Black Girl
    • ° From the Editorial Board
    • ° Lavender Letters
    • ° Letters to the editor
    • ° Magnolia Letters
    Daily Mississippian Staff 2025-26

    Life with Lenora: What’s the big deal about bathrooms?

    Not enough students care about ASB elections

    Not enough students care about ASB elections

    Diary of a Black girl: the art of finding your voice

    Redefining womanhood at the University of Mississippi

    What this month means to me

    What this month means to me

    How much longer can movie theaters stay open?

    How much longer can movie theaters stay open?

    Life with Lenora: Antiques host stories and souls

    The people behind the trend: the impact of Black fashion

  • Special Projects
    • All
    • ° It's a Whole New Ball Game
    • ° Jordan Center Symposium
    • ° Rising Tides & Temperatures
    • ° Winter Storm Fern
    The cost of catastrophe: Effects of Winter Storm Fern linger

    The cost of catastrophe: Effects of Winter Storm Fern linger

    Landscape workers clear the way for campus regrowth

    Landscape workers clear the way for campus regrowth

    Meet a lineman who brought power back to Oxford

    Meet a lineman who brought power back to Oxford

    ‘Everyone is your neighbor in a disaster’: Churches step up during crisis

    ‘Everyone is your neighbor in a disaster’: Churches step up during crisis

    Kindness on wheels: Facebook moms rally around young rescue driver

    Kindness on wheels: Facebook moms rally around young rescue driver

    Baptist Memorial Hospital puts patient care first during historic storm

    Baptist Memorial Hospital puts patient care first during historic storm

  • About Us
    • Applications
    • Advertise
    • Archives
    • Classifieds
    • Contact
    • Daily Mississippian Staff 2025-26
    • Editorial Board
    • Tips & Corrections
  • Print / e-Editions
  • News
    • All
    • ° Associated Student Body
    • ° Breaking News
    • ° Campus
    • ° National
    • ° Oxford
    • ° Prepping for Primaries
    • ° State
    ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution

    ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution

    Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience

    Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience

    Public opposition to Magnolia Materials asphalt plant rolls over to Oxford industrial park

    Public opposition to Magnolia Materials asphalt plant rolls over to Oxford industrial park

    Brett Young up to bat as UM Commencement speaker

    Brett Young up to bat as UM Commencement speaker

    Overby Center hosts documentary screening on famed ‘whiskey speech’

    Overby Center hosts documentary screening on famed ‘whiskey speech’

    UM Center for Community Engagement celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary with Voting Rights Summit

    UM Center for Community Engagement celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary with Voting Rights Summit

  • Arts & Culture
    • All
    • ° Events
    • ° Features
    • ° Listicles
    • ° Reviews
    Matthew Burdine pushes his canoeing tours out into the Mississippi River

    Matthew Burdine pushes his canoeing tours out into the Mississippi River

    Chinese and Arabic flagship programs take the stage at annual talent showcase

    Chinese and Arabic flagship programs take the stage at annual talent showcase

    Students stay in Oxford for spring break

    Bob Dylan Center brings special archival screening to Oxford

    Bob Dylan Center brings special archival screening to Oxford

    Review: Slayyyter’s ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’ will keep you on the dance floor

    Review: Slayyyter’s ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’ will keep you on the dance floor

    Sunday Bagels bakes up long lines at Oxford Community Market

    Sunday Bagels bakes up long lines at Oxford Community Market

  • Sports
    • All
    • ° Baseball
    • ° Basketball
    • ° Cross Country
    • ° Football
    • ° Golf
    • ° Rifle
    • ° Soccer
    • ° Softball
    • ° Tennis
    • ° Track & Field
    • ° Volleyball
    Three Rebels drive Ole Miss Tennis through SEC play 

    Three Rebels drive Ole Miss Tennis through SEC play 

    A look back at Ole Miss Men’s Basketball’s roller coaster of a season

    A look back at Ole Miss Men’s Basketball’s roller coaster of a season

    Ole Miss Baseball gets back in SEC win column with victory over Florida

    Ole Miss Baseball gets back in SEC win column with victory over Florida

    Ole Miss Baseball shakes up pitching rotation

    Ole Miss Baseball shakes up pitching rotation

    Ole Miss Football is back with spring drills

    Ole Miss Football is back with spring drills

    How to throw a baseball: the science before the swing

    How to throw a baseball: the science before the swing

  • Opinion
    • All
    • ° Ask a Philosopher
    • ° Diary of a Black Girl
    • ° From the Editorial Board
    • ° Lavender Letters
    • ° Letters to the editor
    • ° Magnolia Letters
    Daily Mississippian Staff 2025-26

    Life with Lenora: What’s the big deal about bathrooms?

    Not enough students care about ASB elections

    Not enough students care about ASB elections

    Diary of a Black girl: the art of finding your voice

    Redefining womanhood at the University of Mississippi

    What this month means to me

    What this month means to me

    How much longer can movie theaters stay open?

    How much longer can movie theaters stay open?

    Life with Lenora: Antiques host stories and souls

    The people behind the trend: the impact of Black fashion

  • Special Projects
    • All
    • ° It's a Whole New Ball Game
    • ° Jordan Center Symposium
    • ° Rising Tides & Temperatures
    • ° Winter Storm Fern
    The cost of catastrophe: Effects of Winter Storm Fern linger

    The cost of catastrophe: Effects of Winter Storm Fern linger

    Landscape workers clear the way for campus regrowth

    Landscape workers clear the way for campus regrowth

    Meet a lineman who brought power back to Oxford

    Meet a lineman who brought power back to Oxford

    ‘Everyone is your neighbor in a disaster’: Churches step up during crisis

    ‘Everyone is your neighbor in a disaster’: Churches step up during crisis

    Kindness on wheels: Facebook moms rally around young rescue driver

    Kindness on wheels: Facebook moms rally around young rescue driver

    Baptist Memorial Hospital puts patient care first during historic storm

    Baptist Memorial Hospital puts patient care first during historic storm

  • About Us
    • Applications
    • Advertise
    • Archives
    • Classifieds
    • Contact
    • Daily Mississippian Staff 2025-26
    • Editorial Board
    • Tips & Corrections
  • Print / e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Mississippian
No Result
View All Result

UM graduate, global communications lead for League of Legends talks social media in the business world

David BallowebyDavid Ballowe
January 30, 2020
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Ryan Rigney, communications director for League of Legends, speaks in the Overby Center on Wednesday. Photo by Reed Jones.

Ryan Rigney, communications lead for Riot Games’ League of Legends and Ole Miss School of Journalism graduate, returned to campus on Wednesday to share his insight on social media in the modern workplace with students.

Rigney, who addressed an audience in the Overby Center on Wednesday and participated in the 2020 Jobs Conference on Thursday, highlighted his company’s unique approach to their employee’s social media policy.

“The way we do it at Riot is anybody that works at the company, it doesn’t matter if you’re in accounting or one of the lead developers … You can go online and be officially ‘flared’ as a Riot Games employee. Anybody can go and talk on Reddit, and you can get a little badge next to your name.”

This coveted Reddit “red name” designation is available after completing Riot’s red name training program, and Rigney said this allows players to ask questions directly to the person best-suited to answer them. 

Rigney began his career in journalism before he enrolled at Ole Miss, writing for many outlets — mostly for free. He released a book titled “Buttonless” in 2012, and this led to the job at Riot, which he accepted in 2014. 

He mentioned that unlike Riot, many companies don’t allow employees to voice their opinions or list their affiliation with their respective companies on social media. 

Launched in 2006, Riot Games began development on their first and most popular game, League of Legends. 

Since 2009, when the title was officially released, the game has grown to be one of the largest online PC games in the world, with over 115 million active players in 2019, as estimated by RankedKings.com.

With this major growth comes a major fanbase, and some major public relations problems. 

Rigney said that Riot Games has over 1,000 employees that are both active and have identified themselves as Riot employees on social media platforms.

Ole Miss eSports League of Legends team leader and junior chemistry major Tony Lybrand said he believes this interaction between Riot employees and their customers helps the game create a constructive virtual environment.

“Compared to companies like Blizzard, it’s very hard to find even one person that works at Blizzard actively saying they work at Blizzard and voicing their opinion and speaking with their customers,” Lybrand said, “but in Riot, you can see that all the time.”

Lybrand said that while other companies do have some social media presence, Riot’s has the most and the best. 

While Riot Games has received a lot of praise for the way they handle business on social media, it doesn’t mean everything in League of Legends PR is smooth sailing.

One of the features of the game allows users to turn offensive language into asterisks, but then the team at Riot Games has to translate the game into over 27 different languages. 

In October 2019, League of Legends ran in to a sensitive issue: the system banned the word Uyghur. 

Uyghur is the name of an Islamic ethinic minority in China that is currently being forced into concentration camps, and since Riot Games is owned by Chinese mega-conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd., the global League assumed the ban was Chinese censorship. The backlash was worldwide.

Fans took to Reddit to voice their discontent over the ban. 

“I’m guessing they don’t have much of a say in the matter as the company is 100% owned by Tencent,” said Reddit user ResplendentShade on the r/leagueoflegends thread. 

Rigney, who goes by The_Cactopus on Reddit, was present for this Reddit “Flame War,” as these high-intensity Reddit confrontations are called, and he replied quickly on the thread that the system sometimes bans “really weird words for no good reason.”

The Riot team took immediate action and removed the ban on the word, in addition to reviewing the existing list of banned words.

The way Rigney handled the situation garnered praise from speech attendee and junior general business major Alexandra Kerwin.

“Ryan was able to make a public statement on (social media) before traditional press even caught wind of the issue,” Kerwin said. “PR has definitely changed with new media and is able to address and resolve issues more quickly.”

Rigney said that his job at Riot is his dream job, challenges and all. 

Tags: League of LegendsNewsUM graduates
Previous Post

SEC distribution rises up to $624.2 million for 2018-19

Next Post

Ole Miss men’s tennis hosts No. 20 Oklahoma State in ranked matchup

David Ballowe

David Ballowe

Related Posts

ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution
News

ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution

April 1, 2026
Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience
News

Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience

April 1, 2026
Public opposition to Magnolia Materials asphalt plant rolls over to Oxford industrial park
News

Public opposition to Magnolia Materials asphalt plant rolls over to Oxford industrial park

April 1, 2026
Brett Young up to bat as UM Commencement speaker
News

Brett Young up to bat as UM Commencement speaker

April 1, 2026
Overby Center hosts documentary screening on famed ‘whiskey speech’
News

Overby Center hosts documentary screening on famed ‘whiskey speech’

March 31, 2026
UM Center for Community Engagement celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary with Voting Rights Summit
News

UM Center for Community Engagement celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary with Voting Rights Summit

March 31, 2026
Load More

In Case You Missed It

Three Rebels drive Ole Miss Tennis through SEC play 

Three Rebels drive Ole Miss Tennis through SEC play 

15 hours ago
A look back at Ole Miss Men’s Basketball’s roller coaster of a season

A look back at Ole Miss Men’s Basketball’s roller coaster of a season

22 hours ago
Ole Miss Baseball gets back in SEC win column with victory over Florida

Ole Miss Baseball gets back in SEC win column with victory over Florida

1 day ago
Ole Miss Baseball shakes up pitching rotation

Ole Miss Baseball shakes up pitching rotation

2 days ago
ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution

ASB rings in new team, endorses attendance resolution

3 days ago
Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience

Bye, myOleMiss! It’s time for a new Experience

3 days ago
The Daily Mississippian

All Rights Reserved to S. Gale Denley Student Media Center 2019

Navigate Site

  • Apple News
  • Apply
  • Multimedia
  • Newsletter
  • Photo Gallery
  • Student Media

Follow Us

Republish this article

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of The Daily Mississippian’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license.

For digital publications:
Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the HTML code and paste it into your Content Management System (CMS).
Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
Any website our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @thedailymississippian on Facebook and @thedm_news on X (formerly Twitter).

For print publications:
You have to credit The Daily Mississippian. We prefer “Author Name, The Daily Mississippian” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by The Daily Mississippian” and include our website, thedmonline.com.
You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Michael Guidry for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
Any website our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
If you have any other questions, contact the Student Media Center at Ole Miss.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Special Projects
  • About Us
    • Applications
    • Advertise
    • Archives
    • Classifieds
    • Contact
    • Daily Mississippian Staff 2025-26
    • Editorial Board
    • Tips & Corrections
  • Print / e-Editions

All Rights Reserved to S. Gale Denley Student Media Center 2019

-
00:00
00:00

Queue

Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00