Twitter continues to mystify me. I've got the hang of facebook, but for some reason Twitter terrifies me in the ways only social media can.
I came across an article headline in the SmartBrief enews talking about how many players on the Knicks are Twitter users. The Knicks boast 11 players on Twitter, putting them at the top of the league. Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks are the other top teams. (Article from NYT, by Howard Beck)
Amazingly enough, just two years ago players couldn't even talk to the media without a PR rep next to their side. Now players tweet on everything from hobbies to religious quotes. They share their lives via social media, just like any other person. (This is significant because anyone can be on Twitter - not just folks who are followed by cameras and make millions annually.)
Why is social media important? The Knicks are not only making themselves more accessible to the public, but they're also driving buzz about themselves and their team. According to the Beck, the N.B.A. is among the more of the professional sports leagues with the most Facebook fans, most viewed You Tube videos, and over 40% of the league players have Twitter accounts.
I did check out the Timberwolves site to check out their Twitter connection. Impressively, they run a constant feed on the homepage with tweets from fans and the team. Kudos to the Timberwolves for working to connect!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/sports/basketball/24knicks.html?_r=3&src=twrhp
http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/
I believe in the use of Social Media for companies yet I am still someone who rarely uses Facebook and sees no personal need for Twitter. But the power is strong in many of these sites to get a businesses name out there to a limitless amount of people. For virtually nothing a company can get thier name out in cyberspace and create a following. It helps if you have someone that can write short and creative copy. Keeping things short and simple seems to be the way of the technological world.
ReplyDeleteI am with you re Twitter. Yet, JetBlue has had great success. Perhaps it is best used as a real-time update tool, perfect for deals and fans and really popular people?
ReplyDeleteI am totally in agreement with you on the Twitter thing! I just don't see the relevance of me using it. I do, however, totally think that companies benefit greatly from it! Especially for updating deals, giveaways and developing a good following for your brand. This will help when it comes time to surveys or other new product development too.
ReplyDeleteAlso, with applications such as sites such as hootsuite, it is even easier to update all of your social media at once when it come time.