The Social Athlete

Athletes and fans have never been closer, thanks to social media. Players update the fans with information they wouldn't normally hear. What is Clayton Kershaw doing this offseason? What are Alex Ovechkin's thoughts on the Washington Nationals (if you can read Russian)? Players allow fans an insight into their personal life. It allows athletes and fans to have a stronger connection 

As a Minnesota Twins fan, it was exciting to see Denard Span (Washington Nationals) and Ben Revere (Philadelphia Phillies) have a conversation on twitter. Two former Twins players having a casual conversation even though they are cities apart. As a fan, it is also exciting to see arguments between players. Richard Sherman is famous for that. He has been in arguments with Patrick Peterson, Darrelle Revis and DeAngelo Hall. The fan gets a front row seat to a battle you don't see on the field or on ESPN. On social media, athletes often show who they truly are.

Fan also get the chance to interact with athletes via social media. I had the privilege to have a positive interaction with Stevie Johnson. 

Players and fans have never had interactions like this before social media. The only way to talk with athletes was running into them somewhere on the streets. Speaking of which, Jared Allen did walk into the ice cream store I work at a few years ago and that is an experience I would take over a million twitter messages. It just isn't common to see an athlete on the street, but you can find them on social media. 

Not all interactions with fans can go well for the athletes on social media. During the 2014 March Madness Tournament, Roddy White was on the wrong end of a bet and wasn't living up to it. 

Eventually enough people tweeted at Roddy White to pay up and he did. The fan even got to meet Roddy White.

Sometimes the fan can end up on the bad end of a social media conversation with an athlete. Brandon Marshall called out one of his followers when he called his mom some unnecessary names. Marshall offered the fan $5,000 to fight him. If the fan wins, Marshall will give him an additional $10,000. If Marshall wins, the fan has to volunteer for 100 hours at a charity and apologize to Marshall's mother.

We will have to wait and find out if the fan will fight Brandon Marshall or hide like I would do. 

While social media has offered a whole knew perspective for fans, be careful what you get yourself into. It is so fascinating to get a response from an athlete you like so much because for once they notice you. I hope fan and athlete interaction continues to grow over time because it is important to the fans. We just need more social athletes.