Sunday, August 02, 2009

Will Twitter Revolutionize Professional Sports?

Washington Post writer Rick Maese takes an intriguing look at how professional athletes' increasing use of Twitter to communicate directly with fans will change everything:
For the first time, fans aren't dependent on media reports for training camp updates. Players themselves are divulging certain details, from the humorous to the inconsequential, using Twitter feeds.
...While athletes have used blogs the past couple of years, they say Twitter is quicker, more accessible and less likely to be filtered through agents, publicists or team officials before publication. From the perspective of both fan and athlete, that's a good thing. But the National Football League is an image-obsessed league, routinely beset by athletes' off-the-field antics. Twitter has already grown into a social media tool over which the league has little to no control.
..."I don't think in my lifetime we've had a platform that allowed direct access and communication like this," said Reggie Bradford, CEO of Vitrue, an Atlanta-based marketing company that tracks social media.

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