Social Sports

With social media on the rise it's no surprise that everyone from teenagers to actors are on Facebook or using Twitter. Alot of people are hesitant about putting their information on Facebook or telling the world exactly what they are doing using Twitter, but many hight profile atheletes have taken a liking to social media. You would think alot of atheletes would want to keep their lives as private as possible but quite the opposite. Social media gives fans the chance to interact with their favorite players and allows the players to stay in touch with their fans from whereever they are. Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest uses Twitter and Facebook on an extremely personal level, giving away free sneakers, Lakers tickets, and inviting his fans to join him in beach football games. I think this is great. This disproves the false preseption that atheletes are arogant and don't care about their fans. Social media is here to stay and I think it will only help players and their fans. Never before have we had the chance to be this connected and informed about information at all times. If players start using social media the wrong way, intimidating their opponents or using foal language, I can see this being a problem and possibly teams prohibiting players from using it. Sports are about having fun and the fans, and social media provides a great oppurtunity for both, plus I think we would all rather have Ron Artest Tweeting than fighting spectators.