Can You Be Too Big for Twitter?

Ryan Corazza, writing for ESPN.com, argues that you can.  He made the observation that the serious sports superstars, those with worldwide recognition and marketing people practically beating down their doors, are not on Twitter.  LeBron James, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter? Not on Twitter.

Corazza’s piece does note that Twitter can be a great marketing tool for many pro athletes, such as Dwight Howard, Randy Moss and Nick Swisher.  Twitter undoubtedly allows for athletes to market their personal brand and connect with fans.  However, he argues that the megastars simply don’t need the marketing boost and don’t have the time.

While I understand his argument, I call foul!  Sure, LeBron doesn’t probably need any marketing boost from Twitter, but what about connecting with fans?  Are these guys too big to do that anymore?  I hope not! The fans are the ones who give athletes a good chunk of marketing power.  Twitter is one of the great democratizing tools of social media and athletes that have bought into this have usually benefited.

I also can’t quite buy into the “lack of time” statement. Twitter is fast and easy.  I understand that the Tom Bradys of the world are more busy than the average Joe, but come on!  If Britney Spears (even if it is mostly through her team) can tweet, I certainly think ol’ Brett Favre can jump on the bandwagon and let the world know how excited he was to beat his old team.

-Andrea