Almost all sports superstars have big numbers on social. That’s a given. That’s why we dug a little deeper and focused on finding athletes worldwide who are tearing it up on Twitter by actively engaging with their fans. We started with each sport’s top 10 most followed athletes at Tweeting-Athletes.com. We then sifted through @replies, activity level, popularity and reach to find those athletes fully leveraging their social media bases. We also included our trademark twist surprise, so don’t be a hater if you find something unusual! Go grab a cold beverage and enjoy this week’s offering. It’s time to talk some sports!

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

1. Ricardo Kaka’ - @KakaFootball, Faith & Kids

Kaka’ comes in as not only the top Tweeter in football (soccer in the U.S.) but he’s also the worldwide overall winner, too. He is a midfielder for the Brazilian National football team and enjoys over 7 million fans on Twitter, as well as 12 million fans on Facebook. Interestingly, most of Kaka’s fans are low authority users who originate tweets about him. Kaka’ tweets about his faith and his involvement in GRAACC, an organization that leads the fight against juvenile cancer by supporting the children and their families during treatment. He replies to fans regularly and they clearly love him for it. To Kaka’, we say, “Goal!”

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

2. Shaquille O’Neil - @Shaq Get Smacked by the Shaq

O’Neil, known by millions simply as Shaq, is a legend in basketball worldwide. He comes in #1 in his sport category and #3 in the world overall. His followers number close to 5 million and Shaq tweets up a storm with them. No stranger to smack talk, Shaq regularly leverages his self-deprecating style and big attitude to harass and engage. He gets in feuds and pokes fun and causes trouble. Fans eat it up. What’s his unique claim to fame online? He’s most famously known for retiring via Twitter. Traditional media didn’t appreciate it, but Shaq didn’t seem to care. We think that’s a brilliant way to engage your fanbase and we like it.

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

3. Lance Armstrong - @LanceArmstrong Tour de Force

If you want to know what engagement in social and beyond looks like, look no further. This seven-time winner of cycling’s tournament of champions, the Tour de France, has 3 million followers. A cancer survivor and founder of the life-saving cancer foundation Livestrong, Armstrong is a master at living his story out loud. Armstrong’s Twitter stream is replete with @replies and conversations. He focuses on cancer awareness and prevention, sports news, community announcements, and documenting his travels and activities. The blend of brand building, personalized events, and advocacy is balanced and interesting. Such an active life and online lifestream are fun, and inspiring, to watch. Follow him to find out for yourself.

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

4. Tony Hawk - @TonyHawkSkateboarding Video Dad

Hawk is a skateboarding legend. He started at 14 and was the first professional skater to complete a 900, which is a 2.5-revolution (900 degrees) aerial spin performed on a skateboard ramp. He’s a stunt actor and has been made into a video game character by Activision. “I try to read all replies”—this is Hawk’s commitment. Nearly 3 million followers don’t make that an easy task. Even though his @replies aren’t as heavy as some of the other sports stars we’re featuring, he is a prolific resource link provider. Pictures and videos, most from his real life current activities, are posted often. You want a taste of a skater’s high-flying life? Follow Hawk.

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

LeBron James is more than just a forward for the Miami Heat basketball team. He’s practically a household name. His Twitter account has over 3 million followers and he tweets often. He’s #5 of the top 10 Tweeters in sports worldwide. We give a nod for him having 8 million+ Facebook fans, too. But what we noticed most is his skillful use of hash tags. Hash tags let you engage in ongoing, established community discussions by fans and friends. By including them in his tweets, James is putting himself in the thick of conversations that are already going on. Engaging in a community is smart social. James does it well. FTW!

5. LeBron James - @KingJames Sports and Hash Tag Royalty

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

Serena is one of the top women tennis players in history. She also likes to chatter about very personal things on Twitter. Her 2.3 million+ fans can get an inside glimpse into her feelings and thoughts and point of view by tuning in. Why is being personal so important? Serena demonstrates it very well – she uses her personality to fully engage her audience. She talks about motivation. She drives traffic to hash tag conversations. She does live streaming during sports events she’s watching. The result: You get to know her. Add in the @replies and retweets and you feel like she’s engaged and having coffee with you.

6. Serena Williams - @SerenaWilliamsPersonalized Online Presence

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

7. Floyd Mayweather - @FloydMayweatherBoxing’s Bad Boy with an Online Posse

Mayweather’s “bad boy” brand is all about “cashing checks” and “talking smack.” He doesn’t follow many people back (a bummer to us) but he certainly stirs up the conversation. His Twitter account comes in with 2 million+ fans. The Internet is flush with Mayweather mentions. He retweets his followers’ tweets consistently. Love him or hate him, this boxing world bad boy understands how to engage his fans. Mayweather also has his own #MoneyTeam hash tag posse, which constantly drives the online conversation about him and his lifestyle. Mayweather is selling memorabilia using the MoneyTeam brand and extending his social connection by leveraging that community’s ethos. We say that’s bad-boy brilliant!

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

8. Dwight Howard - @DwightHoward@Reply Champion

Howard is currently the center for the Orlando Magic basketball team and close friends—online and off—with the likes of The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant. What we found so intriguing is that almost 100% of Howard’s Twitter stream is comprised of @reply responses. Howard comes in as #9 on the top 10 Tweeters list worldwide and it’s easy to see why. Being personal and responsive is his secret weapon. We aren’t sure to what extent athletes like Howard do their own tweets, but we can’t blame them if they have help. After all, 2.7 million+ followers can make being responsive a big feat. Besides, Howard is busy “dominating the paint” as the NBA’s #1 center!

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

Scandal has not stopped this golf legend from staying in touch with his fans. The tide of popular opinion may have turned recently against him, but he’s still one of the best golfers of our times and he has been more open recently—both online and off—about these recent struggles. That’s what social media is all about. Woods has a funky Twitter style. He is regularly Tweeted questions about why he behaved certain ways at golf tournaments or news conferences. Instead of directly @replying, he makes a general response tweet. Not the ordinary way to do it if you’re interested in downplaying bad news, but his stream makes it obvious that Woods doesn’t shy away from answering the hard questions. That takes guts and we admire that.

9. Tiger Woods - @TigerWoods Engaging Fairway Fans

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

Lists like these occasionally get called out for lacking gender diversity. We’d like to break from that pattern by introducing you to Yuna Kim. She is an accomplished, record-holding Olympic figure skater from South Korea. She is also a multilingual philanthropist. Kim is #2 in the Top 10 Tweeters for winter sports, second only to Shaun White in popularity. Her fans number in the 400K+ range and they love chatting with her online. She engages regularly and talks often about eliminating world hunger. She tweets in both English and Korean, and for her devotion to global engagement, we salute her.

10. Yuna Kim - @Yunaaaa Multilingual Figure Skating Philanthropist

SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

Players and their Fans Fans tend to personalize their at-distance relationships with celebrity athletes. That’s because we can relate to the adversity they frequently face—and we love living vicariously through them on their paths to glory. Being able to see them and connect firsthand can be a thrill, and social media can help bring this connection home in real time. Among social media tools, Twitter is an ideal way for sports stars to connect with their fans and many are doing just that very skillfully. It helps extend natural team loyalty while also helping to build each athlete’s personal brand. We know it can be hard to handle a high-volume Twitter stream, so it’s impressive to see busy athletes doing it so well. We also know you probably have your favorites who you already engage with on Twitter—so be sure to list them below!

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SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter

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SPORTS STARS ON SOCIAL MEDIA10 Engaged Athletes on Twitter