Athletes and Twitter

By Evan Stermer

Alex Mixon

Twitter

• Twitter exploded onto the scene in 2006 and in just six years it has garnered over 140 million active users.

• There are currently over 5,000 professional athletes with Twitter accounts.

Top 10 Most Followed AthletesNumber 10

Dwight HowardNumber 9

Chad OchoCinco

3.10 Million Followers 3.36 Million Followers

Number 8Lance Armstrong

3.38 Million Followers

Top 10 Most Followed Athletes

Number 7Ronaldinho Gaucho

Number 6Wayne Rooney

3.50 Million Followers 3.73 Million Followers

Top 10 Most Followed Athletes

Number 5Neymar Junior

Number 4LeBron James

3.92 Million Followers 4.20 Million Followers

Top 10 Most Followed Athletes

Number 3Shaquille O’Neal

Number 2Cristiano Ronaldo

5.30 Million Followers 8.10 Million Followers

Top 10 Most Followed Athletes

Number 1Kaka

9.57 Million Followers

Ranks in at number 18

among all users.

Chad OchoCinco

Fined $25,000 for possessing an

electronic device and posting to Twitter.

Micky Arison

The owner of the Miami Heat basketball team was fined $500,000 when he responded to followers of his Twitter account. He responded with some comments against other owners in the NBA during the lockout period.

Benefits of Twitter for professional athletes

• Some professional athletes use social media and Twitter to connect with their fans on a personal basis.

• There are many stories of athletes telling their fans where they are going and the first fans to get there will receive free gifts or tickets to events.

• There are even stories about fans who become real friends with professional athletes through Twitter.

It’s definitely not all good, though

• Professional athletes and coaches have many repercussions for their poor Twitter comments.– Most come in the form of a large fine. ($1,000-

$500,000!)– There are many new rules against using social media

outlets during and before sporting events, although many professional leagues are starting to change that.

– Some are more strenuous and cause loss of jobs (0:33) or endorsements.(0:19).

Athletes Can Use Twitter to Their Advantage• There are five good rules to follow for athletes to utilize Twitter

perfectly.1. Tweet about behind the scenes.

• Fans love to hear about fun things the team does off the field. Opinions about movies and entertainment are always good ideas.

2. Communicate with your fans.• It never hurts to reply to your fans, and sometimes surprise them.

3. Don’t respond to team conflict on Twitter!• It is never a good idea to voice negative comments about your teammates or

coaches online.

4. Develop a full fledged online profile.• Create your own website about fundraisers and facts about yourself.• Allow for your social media sites to link to the main site.

5. Don’t go at it blind.• Get some training on what to do and say online. PR professionals can make a

huge difference.

College Athletes and Twitter

•Many college athletic programs are cracking down on their student-athletes and Twitter. Colleges such as UNM, UNC, and OSU.

• Student-athletes are deleting their Twitter accounts by choice and being forced to delete them due to certain policies.

What do you think?

• Do you think making athletes delete their social media accounts is a good idea? Too harsh?

• Freedom of Speech? • Athletes are human. Should it be up to the

athlete or the organization they play and pay them to decide what they post?

• This seems to be an ongoing issue not just with athletics but politics, the work force, and personal lives.