2. 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.
3. Top 10 Most Followed Athletes
Number 10 Number 9 Number 8
Dwight Howard Chad OchoCinco Lance Armstrong
3.38 Million
Followers
3.10 Million Followers 3.36 Million Followers
4. Top 10 Most Followed Athletes
Number 7 Number 6
Ronaldinho Gaucho Wayne Rooney
3.50 Million Followers 3.73 Million Followers
5. Top 10 Most Followed Athletes
Number 5 Number 4
Neymar Junior LeBron James
3.92 Million Followers 4.20 Million Followers
6. Top 10 Most Followed Athletes
Number 3 Number 2
Shaquille O’Neal Cristiano Ronaldo
5.30 Million Followers 8.10 Million Followers
7. Top 10 Most Followed Athletes
Number 1
Kaka
Ranks in at
9.57 Million number 18
Followers among all users.
8. Chad OchoCinco
Fined $25,000 for
possessing an
electronic device and
posting to Twitter.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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).
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
