Linsanity pukes on Facebook
In the past few months, Jeremy Lin has exploded into the NBA spotlight. He is the feel good story of the year: a graduate of Harvard that was cut by several teams this year and found success with the New York Knicks. He was on the bench for most of the season until several of the Knicks got hurt. He replaced the point guard and played very well. He led the Knicks on a 7 game win streak and back into the playoffs. However, recently he had surgery for a tear in his meniscus. He hosted a post-surgery Facebook chat and actually threw up in the middle of the Facebook chat. He used social media to maintain personal contact with his fans and keep up the Linsanity.
Promotion
UFC stars Chael Sonnen, Anderson Silva, and Georges St. Pierre use social media as a way to promote and hype their upcoming fights. The fighters are usually receive a portion of the Pay Per View revenue, so by promoting their fights, they can potentially make a lot more money.
Political Statement and Social Statements
Sports stars use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to make political statements. Recently, Dwayne Wade and Lebron James had a team picture taken to show support for Trayvon Martin, a teenager who was shot and killed in Samford, FL. Social media gives sports stars another forum to voice their support for political and social causes.
Social Media Helping Break Gender Perceptions
Not only does Social Media allow professional sports stars to generate interest in their sport, but some stars are also using it to break gender perceptions of women in sports. Some women sports stars are using social mediums like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to generate interest in their particular sports. In this clip, we see an example of US Olympian Angela Ruggiero and how she uses social media help her show a different side of women in sports.
Using social media as an Investigator
The power that social media possesses in the world of sports was recently put on display. Bobby Petrino, former head coach of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, was recently fired because someone reported on a social media website that Mr. Petrino lied about where and what he was doing on a certain day. Information about certain events can spread much more rapidly. New cell phone technology and mobile applications make file sharing, especially pictures that put a person in tricky situations, easier to do. Bobby Petrino, a married father of four, had a motorcycle accident and then lied about who he was with. It turns out that he was with a 25 year old Arkansas employee who he might have illegally helped get a job. People's contributions to social media sites allowed information to get to the Arkansas athletic director that might have not otherwise got there. It at the very least, sped the process up. This is not the first time that social media has done something like this. In 2003, the head coach of the Iowa had his picture taken at party showing him kissing and drinking with students. This picture was quickly posted on several social sites and ultimately cost him his job.
Sports stars might seem like they don't understand anything outside of sports. It is just a ruse. Sports stars are very conscious of how they are perceived and especially conscious of their brand, which is basically themselves. Ex-sports stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Tony Hawk are smart businessmen. Tony Hawk has been retired from the sport of Skateboarding since 1999, yet stays active in social media so he can maintain his brand, which he lends his name to a clothes line and video game series. Current international stars like Kobe Bryant and David Beckham are good examples as well. There is money to be made outside of sports and social media allows companies to take advantage of the following the athlete has to market their product.
