The Virtual "High Five"- Athletes and social media
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The Virtual “High Five”: Connecting With the Fan-base Athletes and Social Media Image: pimpsport123, Flickr
description
Social Media and its effect on an athletes career and their fan-base.
Transcript of The Virtual "High Five"- Athletes and social media
The Virtual “High Five”: Connecting With the Fan-base
Athletes and Social Media
Image: pimpsport123, Flickr
“There is an undeniable growing disconnect between fans and professional sports”- Shannon J. Owens, The
Orlando Sentinel
Image: Topster, Flickr
…Twitter provides fans with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the personal lives of
their favourite athletes
Image: Maveric2003, Flickr
“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
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
“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
“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
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
According to official statistics around 250 million people use Twitter on a daily basis…
Image: 10iggie, Flickr
“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
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
Image: Ryan Plinske, Flickr
On the other side of the spectrum, there are
some athletes use social media in a more
informal manner…
Image: che1989, Flickr
“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
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
Image: jasperroz, Flickr
“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…
Image: Stephen Witherden, Flickr
“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
“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
