Athletes

Kevin Durant has utilized social media extremely well throughout the NBA lockout to maintain relevance.  Durant is known to be an active tweeter and was especially active during the lockout, including playing in a intermural fraternity football game.  He put out a tweet saying he was bored and asked if anyone wanted to play football.  A group of Oklahoma State students responded and asked him to play for their fraternity’s team and that night he showed up to play.  There has always been a lot said in the media about Kevin Durant being and extremely humble guy and this was a perfect example of just how humble he is.  Just because he was bored, with no external motivation he decided to ask his followers who wanted to play football.  Very few athletes of KD’s stature would ever do something like this and it has helped to set himself apart by truly making social media a two-way street instead of a one-way flow of information.  So many athletes are only concerned about telling people what they are doing or promoting their products on Twitter, but Durant is using it just as the Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, intended it to be used.

Nick Swisher, although not the best player in baseball, has managed to build a massive Twitter following by being able to translate his fun, happy disposition from the Yankees clubhouse to his Twitter account. Swisher is known for being a kid at heart and truly loves playing baseball, which shows in the Yankee's Clubhouse. In fact, he was credited by many players and coaches for having a big impact on them being able to win the World Series in 2009. This excitement and ability to always make people smile is what he brings to his Twitter account. People really appreciate his ability to take baseball so seriously, but be able to joke around and have fun as well. His fan base would not be as large if he didn't use Twitter to show the fun side of himself. While he is a successful player, he doesn't have the great numbers that is usually a prerequisite for building a fan base. Swisher is perhaps the best example of an athlete who has actually gained more fans through social media and his personality than he ever could have through his play on the field.

The way that these two players are interacting with Twitter is just like how any “normal” person would use their Twitter.  They are engaging in conversations and making the followers feel as if they are involved with the player’s life in some way.  Fans always want to have as much access to their favorite athletes as possible.  While the fans are becoming really engaged, the players are able to increase their social capital with their followers.  Social capital is what allows the player to bridge the gap between being someone that they follow and someone who they are more emotionally invested in.  Having this social capital is crucial for players to make themselves marketable and in touch with their fan bases.