When I first heard about Twitter I thought it was the lamest thing ever. I thought, rightly so, that its only function was to update your "status" the same way that Facebook does. To me this made 0 sense as having an application that only allowed me to update my status seemed arbitrary. I already don't use the function on Facebook so why would I both with Twitter?
Luckily for me my opinion changed when someone made me a Twitter account. They signed me up and even made my account name meaning all I had to do was sign in and I was good to go. I figured what harm could it cause and seeing as all the leg work had been done for me I decided to check it out.
Since that day I have gone on everyday and have updated my status 171 times. Sometime I post comments about sporting events I am watching or sometimes I use it to complain about douchebag drivers or frat boys at the gym who curl in the squat rack. Either way I can officially say I am hooked.
At first I only used Twitter for the above mentioned reasons but then I found a greater use for it and everything changed. I cannot even begin to list the amount of athletes, sports journalists, and owners/GMs that have twitter and update daily.
I currently "follow" (this means I get access to their status updates) guys like Shaq, Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, Baron Davis, and countless NFL players. Almost every major athlete under 30 has Twitter. As an example there are currently over 85 NFL players that have Twitter, 77 NBA players, 16 MLB players, and over 30 NHL players.
It's not just players that have Twitter either as numerous coaches, GMs, and owners have accounts and update regularly. Daryl Morey, GM of the Houston Rockets, has an account and updates about the status of players and the ongoings of the franchise regularly. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, "tweeted" about his attempted purchase of the Cubs and let it be known that he no longer wishes to purchase the team via Twitter.
The best part about having all these guys on Twitter is that it gives fans unprecedented access to their favorite athletes. For instance every time I log on I can send Shaq a message or respond to a comment that Jonathan Toews made and they can respond right back to what I write. Dwight Howard is especially good at this and usually responds to about 10-15 comments per day.
I have even seen certain guys respond to the same person 5 or 6 times in a row making it a pseudo conversation. How else could a regular person achieve this? No chance am I getting to ask Shaq questions without running into him personally or getting a job in the media and interviewing him. It just won't happen, unless I can get him to respond to a comment I make on Twitter.
Besides giving fans access to some of their favorite players Twitter also has other benefits.
In the technological age we live in Twitter is a perfect media for players to express their feelings and vent about issues. For instance hot headed guys like Baron Davis might get into a fight at practice and within minutes talk about it via Twitter. All it takes is a few seconds on the Blackberry and you can update your Twitter account from anywhere.
It will be very soon when Twitter will become the new ESPN where instead of watching television to get news stories on sports people will be checking their Twitter feeds to see if anything new has occurred.
I am waiting for the day when Sportscenter comes on the breaking story is something like this, "Bosh says he wants out of Toronto via Twitter." It may seem ridiculous but in actuality it may happen soon. How hard would it be for these players and sports personalities to cut out the middle man? Instead of holding a press conference they can simply update their Twitter account to let people know what's going on.
As an example while I was writing this Shaq "tweeted" about a Kobe interview in which Kobe said Shaq wouldn't have won NBA Championships without his supporting cast. "What kobe said to magic is true, I wouldn't of won it without him fish and robert horry, and b shaw and fox and everybody dynasty baby."
Twitter is no longer just another useless Internet application. It is no longer reserved for crappy celebrities and bands to try and stir up interest. It is a new way for athletes to better connect with fans and for franchises to give fans new access to what is going on within the organization. It is the next logical step in the reporting of sports media and should play a major role for many years to come.
If you want to sign up for Twitter simply go to http://twitter.com/ or if you already have Twitter and want to follow me then go to http://twitter.com/JCholeras
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