Twitter for Athletes

Note: if you're looking for best practices on using Twitter with a sports team, click here.

Practice makes perfect

It takes a lot of work to stay on top of your game as an athlete. First you've got to stay healthy and focused. But then there's all the rest: staying in touch with teammates and friends, keeping your fans happy, and even running other businesses and charities. Here's the good news: from your sport to your passion, Twitter gives you one place to bring it all together.

We're providing you with these best practices to help guide your use of Twitter. The truth is, it's different for everyone, but no matter what, your Tweets should reflect the things you're passionate about. Just like any sport, Twitter has a learning curve, but that's why you need to practice and find what works for you.

While a lot of the following examples are from professional athletes, these best practices can (and should be) applied to all ranges of athletes: from the minor league shortstop to the amateur gymnast. You're ready to start tweeting when you want to jump into a conversation with your sport's community.

To begin, check out ESPN's coverage of NFL players on Twitter at the beginning of the 2011 season:

To go further, here's our extended highlight reel of best practices for athletes on Twitter:




Use hashtags

Hashtags are Twitter's way of tagging Tweets together around a topic or conversation. You can click on a hashtag to see search results for recent Tweets that have been tagged with that topic. Great hashtags are creative, and the best ones compel followers to join the conversation by tweeting with them:

Hashtags often emerge around events as well. It's important to use the right ones if you want your Tweets to be part of the global conversation:

Hashtags are also a great way to build buzz or run a contest, the way Tony Hawk did in April 2011.


Reply to your followers and ask questions

Asking a simple question can lead to unexpected friendships and connections. Here's what Kevin Durant tweeted on Halloween 2011:

The result? A fan reached out, and everybody had a great time:

Not every interaction with your followers needs to lead to this kind of experience, but it can if you want it to. Twitter is a great way to engage with your fans when you have some downtime. It doesn't take any time to set up a Q&A;—just announce it and the questions will roll in from all over the world:

Or you can always just pick out an @mention and respond to it:




Mention your teammates and other related accounts

Mention your teammates, coaches, and famous fans in your Tweets:

Fans love it when their favorite players talk to each other on Twitter. Congratulate other players on their achievements:

And if something controversial happens on the field and you want to clear the air, Twitter can help.

Tweets can also bring new teams together. Andy Roddick and Serena Williams announced that they were teaming up for the mixed doubles competition in the 2012 Olympics:




Break news

On Twitter, you control when and how you reveal big changes, and a Tweet can be more powerful and personal than a press release:

If you've got big news to share: send it to your followers first.




Live-tweet events

A particularly good time to Tweet is when you're watching sports or games other than your own. Check out how Donté Stallworth live-tweeted the 2011 NFL season-opener. First, he recognized a fellow University of Tennessee alumnus:

Then he lavished praise on a fellow wide receiver:

And finally, he complimented the hustle of a young player:

These are genuine Tweets with real personality behind them: words that you can picture him saying out loud while watching the game. The more natural and authentic you are on Twitter, the more your followers will share your content.




A picture is worth a thousand yards

Twitter hosts photos for you, too, and they can add richness and personality to your Tweets. If you run into a friend, you can share the moment with your fans and followers:

You can use photos to share your guilty pleasure:

Photos will show up on your personal media gallery, which gives your followers a way to browse through the meaningful events you've tweeted about.




Give your followers special access

One of the reasons your fans follow you on Twitter is to get access—controlled entirely by you—to the parts of your world that they normally don't get to see or hear about:

There are so many small behind-the-scenes details from your everyday life that make for great Tweets:

And a Tweet right before you start a game can go a long way:

You can even share your story off the field—for instance, as you recover from an injury:




Remember

Twitter is the place where you can use the attention to break news you care about and live-tweet the events that matter to you. You can interact with your friends, followers and teammates all in one place. Here are just a few more details to keep in mind:

Your @username is your URL:

@shaq = twitter.com/shaq

Put a follow button on your official website to ensure people follow your Tweets. And if you can promote your profile in other creative ways, do it. Look at the way Kyle Busch promotes his account on the side of his car:

Don't forget to have fun and try new ideas. Follow other athletes who inspire you on Twitter and watch what they do. But ultimately, the best way to practice is by tweeting. Your followers are on your team, and they all want to see you bring your A-game, 140 characters at a time.