the virtual "high five"- athletes and social media

The Virtual “High Five”: Connecting With the Fan-base

Athletes and Social Media

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“There is an undeniable growing disconnect between fans and professional sports”- Shannon J. Owens, The

Orlando Sentinel

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…Twitter provides fans with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the personal lives of

their favourite athletes

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“The ability to speak directly to another individual on the other side of the planet --

regardless of their celebrity, status or position of power -- is an attractive feature of such

platforms and one that has seen sport fans and sport stars alike sign up in their droves” –

Gary Morely, CNN

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It is no wonder then, that the popularity of twitter can be seen as a

direct link to these emerging athlete/fan-base relationships...

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“Some professional athletes have reached the point of celebrity. The traditional media

follows Derek Jeter, LeBron James, and

Michael Vick as closely as they follow Jennifer

Aniston, Daniel Radcliffe, and Tom Cruise.”- Kevin

Cacabelos, Seatownsports.net

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“These celebrities create the lion’s share of the content people want on Twitter. They’re the

‘Prime Time’ in social media.” – Howard Davidson, Business 2 Community

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As a result of the growing popularity of twitter in athlete and fan-base relationships, marketers have found it to be a useful tool in creating a

lucrative new market…

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According to official statistics around 250 million people use Twitter on a daily basis…

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“A lot of the people who are driving the strategies on behalf of their clients are looking

at social media and thinking, 'We can really increase the fan base of our player.' And

obviously players have that same viewpoint.”- Gary Morley, CNN

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The UFC gives away $5,000 incentives to its fighters for increasing followers and crafting

creative twitter campaigns

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“Ochocinco did not need an expensive commercial or a massive ad campaign.

Through the exclusive use of Twitter and Facebook, Chad Ochocinco and the creators of

the game, Rok Software, made MadChad one of the top five apps on Apples iTunes Store

within 24 hours of its release.”- Kevin Cacabelos, Seatownsports.net

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On the other side of the spectrum, there are

some athletes use social media in a more

informal manner…

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“For golfers such as Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, it's very much a fun platform with which they communicate with fans and fellow

celebrities -- the English duo both playfully taunted Tiger Woods when he joined Twitter,

to a deafening silence from the American.”- Gary Morley, CNN

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Twitter in the same regard, can be very much a negative in professional sports and the

media…

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“Twitter provides professional athletes with positive business

and personal opportunities; however, it can negatively affect

an athlete’s career because of the absence of a middleman

within the communication medium.” – Kevin Cacabelos,

Seatownsports.net

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“It seems like every day that a professional

athlete is getting into trouble by doing

something on Twitter that is off-colour,

controversial, rude or inappropriate. Then,

you have athletes who use Twitter

during games when they really should be

focused on the task at hand – playing.”-

Mark Evans, SysomosImage: Fivedecadehawk, Flickr

The inappropriate use of twitter by athletes has led to many corollaries including management

disapproval by league officials, general managers and coaches alike, media controversy, and a fear by players to take on the responsibility involved

with tweeting…

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“I’m afraid that my coach or teammates will see something that’ll get me in trouble.” – Steve

Raquel, Iovmedia.com

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“if teams and leagues embrace the service and professional athletes continue to flock

towards it, what will the end consequences be on the media, the fans, and the athletes

themselves? This is one question that cannot be answered in 140 characters or less.” –

Kevin Cacabelos, Seatownsports.net

Image: Mike Saechang, Flickr