Social Media 4

I am going to write about this article that I found about the National Basketball Association which I found interesting http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/24/idUS140846563820120224. It discusses how social media has affected the NBA through its lockout shortened season. Since the beginning of 2011 the NBA has received the most social media discussion of any other sport. As of late that trend seems to be continuing with the recent emergence of Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks otherwise known as “Linsanity”. Social media sites have been a buzz since the arrival of the NBA’s newest poster boy. Lin’s name was mentioned on Twitter about 2.6 million times within a week. Facebook has seen a plethora of Jeremy Lin posts, comments, pages and or photos. Lin is also responsible for the increase in MSG’s ratings as of late. If it was not for people spreading the latest news of the NBA on social networking sites I doubt the NBA’s merchandise sales would be up 30 percent like it has. This article argues that a Lebron James has much more of an impact in the social media world be cause he is a superstar of the NBA rather than a superstar in the NFL because the NBA’s fans are more attuned to the social sphere. In closing, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be used for a greater purpose when used in the right hands. The NBA used it to capitalize on the unexpected rise to fame of Jeremy Lin.