Social Media Report Card – Steve Nash

by Sam Taggart | January 13th, 2010 | View Comments

In November 2009, I introduced a series of articles I called ‘Social Media Report Card,’ where I graded each of the four major sports leagues – NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB – on their social media presence. I made a point of being harsh. In particular, I criticized each of the leagues for only utilizing the major platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) and not adopting some of the emerging platforms (Tumblr, Dailybooth, and Ustream), as well as for not interacting enough with the fans. The series received a lot of positive feedback, so I’ve decided to continue with my ‘Social Media Report Cards,’ this time focusing on individual athletes.

I chose to start with Steve Nash for a few reasons. First, Nash is one of my favorite athletes from any sport right now, which is saying a lot since I am typically a hometown fan (Phillies, Eagles, Sixers). Second, he has always been incredibly entertaining to watch on the court, and has also done some really cool and fun stuff off the court. Third, I think he is one of the most underrated social media users in the sports world. So without further ado, here we go!

Visibility (B+)

Steve Nash might have joined Twitter because of his former teammate, and social media rock star Shaquille O’Neal (@The_Real_Shaq & @The_Real_Nash), but he has fully embraced it and created a really great presence. He has more than 110,000 followers. Nash is also on Facebook, with over 575,000 fans. And to complete the trifecta, he has a YouTube account where he has racked up more than 630,000 total upload views. Before all of these, Nash was challenging fans to competitions (e.g. most free throws in a minute, staring contest) on Baron Davis’ social network, I Beat You. While I haven’t seen him go live on Ustream or snap photos on DailyBooth, Nash has embraced social media across a variety of platforms.

Twitter and the Premier League

by Lewis Howes | January 11th, 2010 | View Comments

(This is a guest article by Ash Read)

The social media phenomenon is still taking off here in the UK, especially amongst our sports teams and athletes, who are severely behind their US counterparts. We’ve yet to see a sporting superstar utilize social media to the same level as Shaq, Dwight Howard and others have across the pond. Many of our bigger clubs have yet to recognize the power of social media. They broadcast news, results and details of any promotional offers, but in many cases there is very little interaction and engagement with the fans, which is a key aspect of social media, isn’t it?

In an age where the Premier League has a huge presence on the web and a huge global fanbase, it’s surprising there aren’t more Premier League players using Twitter. There is potential for these players to use social media in building their personal brands and following.

What Happened to the Old Gilbert Arenas?

by Sam Taggart | January 6th, 2010 | View Comments

Update: Today, Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely and without pay from the National Basketball Association. Keep in mind that this article was published before the suspension was announced.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about Gilbert Arenas, calling him the true pioneer of social media. Far before Shaq had 2.7 million followers (the population of Jamaica), Arenas was blogging for the NBA. Sure, social media wasn’t quite as “social” back then. Gilbert wasn’t directly interacting with fans, but he was providing us with an inside look into his life on and off the court. Arenas wrote his last post towards the end of 2008, after he’d sustained a couple of injuries. By then, he’d already established himself as the first professional athlete to really succeed with social media.

For more than a year, Arenas stayed away from social media. Shaq exploded onto the scene with his ‘Random Acts of Shaqness’ and ‘Yo Mama’ jokes. He’s been the unquestionable sweetheart of the sports and social media world. Then, in early December, Arenas created a Twitter account, and sent out the message that he wouldn’t tweet again until he got one million followers. I was thrilled to see Gilbert back in the space, and I thought that he’d get his million in no time.