subject: How The Sports Social Network Changed The Fan Experience [print this page] For sports-mad fans around the world, a sports social network provides an online meeting place for like-minded individuals.
In a sports social network, fans can read all of the latest reviews of their favourite sports events, and catch up with what has happened in races, tournaments, matches, and bouts, as well as writing reviews yourself. They are also a great place to catch up on the latest news from your favourite sport.
Fans can post pictures of their favourite sports stars, and discuss some of the highlights of a star's career.
Sports social networks are gaining in popularity, and the internet has completely changed the way fans hear about the latest news and rumours from their favourite sport. Whereas once fans could get the latest information only in the sport section in a national newspaper, often the day after it had happened, news from the sporting sector has become much more real-time, and news breaks almost instantly in forums, networks and even by the sports star the news concerns, via networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
These sites have completely changed the face of news reporting. It's now possible, and common, for a star to communicate directly with their fans via sites like Facebook and Twitter, and even announce their own news before any other form of media gets hold of the story. This has allowed fans to get closer to their heroes, and learn more about the people themselves.
American cycling champion Lance Armstrong is one such sporting celebrity who decided to bypass the mass media and communicate directly with fans when his son Max was born, using a social networking site to announce the arrival, and display the pictures.
However, some sports stars have landed themselves in hot water by giving away a little too much information on social networks, forgetting that their posts are there for all to see. Darren Bent, a disgruntled Tottenham Hotspur striker, was fined two weeks' wages in the summer and had to make a grovelling apology after he ranted on his social networking site about the delay in his transfer to Sunderland.
Similarly, Philip Hughes, batsman for Australia, disclosed on his social networking site that he had been left out of the second Ashes Test Match. This information hadn't been announced to the public yet, and he received a telling off from superiors.
It seems that the mass media may be a little disgruntled at the popularity of social networking sites over their traditional medium, but it doesn't stop them using the sites to get stories for their own papers. Ashley-Paul Robinson, who was a Crystal Palace Winger, posted a message to friends that he would be having trials at Fulham. A national newspaper picked up on the story and Robinson was left in hot water.
Whatever it means for sports stars, the onset of the sports social network is what fans have been waiting for. Now they can communicate in real-time about their favourite stars, get news before it's in the papers, and keep ahead of the game.
