Social Media and its effect on an athletes career and their fan-base.

1. Image: pimpsport123, Flickr The Virtual “High Five”: Connecting With the Fan-baseAthletes and Social Media

2. “There is an undeniable growing disconnect between fans and professional sports”- Shannon J. Owens, The Orlando Sentinel Image: Topster, Flickr

3. …Twitter provides fans with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the personal lives of their favourite athletes Image: Maveric2003, Flickr

4. “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 Image: WorldofArun, Flickr

5. It is no wonder then, that the popularity of twitter can be seen as a direct link to these emerging athlete/fan-base relationships... Image: Reggie_Bush, Flickr

6. “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 Image: Nowohucianka, Flickr

7. “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 Image: Larryseanlash, Flickr

8. 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… Image: macjryan, Flickr

9. According to official statistics around 250 million people use Twitter on a daily basis… Image: 10iggie, Flickr

10. “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 Image: Eeleus, Flickr

11. The UFC gives away $5,000 incentives to its fighters for increasing followers and crafting creative twitter campaigns Image: Twitching Left Eye, Flickr

12. “Ochocincodid not need an expensive commercial or a massive ad campaign. Throughthe exclusive use of Twitter and Facebook, ChadOchocinco and the creators of the game, Rok Software, made MadChad one ofthetop five apps on Apples iTunes Store within 24 hours of its release.”- Kevin Cacabelos, Seatownsports.net Image: Ryan Plinske, Flickr

13. On the other side of the spectrum, there are some athletes use social media in a more informal manner… Image: che1989, Flickr

14. “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 Image: Matthwj, Flickr

15. Twitter in the same regard, can be very much a negative in professional sports and the media… Image: Voguemarie2010, Flickr

16. Image: jasperroz, Flickr “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

17. “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, Sysomos Image: Fivedecadehawk, Flickr

18. Image: Stephen Witherden, 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…

19. “I’m afraid that my coach or teammates will see something that’ll get me in trouble.” – Steve Raquel, Iovmedia.com Image: Supercow 10945, Flickr

20. “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