Are you following your favorite athletes on Twitter? Take a look at how tweeting has enhanced or damaged the image of some of the world's most popular athletes.

Twitter can make or break your online and real-life reputation. All it takes is less than 140 characters. We all know how the world's foremost microblog has shown the true colors of notorious celebrities like a certain Chris Brown. Like recording artists and the stars of Tinseltown, athletes are not immune to the hazards of tweeting. But then again, who isn't? Depending on how you conduct yourself, Twitter can be a blessing or a curse. Take a look at how tweeting has enhanced or damaged the image of athletes.


Social media has given athletes more power to affect their own image – if they do it right. They no longer have to rely on their public relations teams to influence how people view them and counteract any negative publicity that comes out in the newspapers or television. Take for instance Kobe Bryant, one of the most polarizing superstars in the National Basketball Association (NBA). For a time, it was hard for non-Los Angeles Lakers fans to see the good in the man known as the "Black Mamba." Bryant, who has an ultra-competitive nature that rivals that of Michael Jordan, was seen as a selfish player who did not get along with his teammates (specifically fellow superstar Shaquille O'Neal).

The 2003 Colorado sex scandal dragged Bryant's popularity rating down to its lowest point. Somehow, Bryant has managed to slowly but surely repair his image and marketability. His decision to join Twitter early this year has proved to be a great decision (so far); one that seems to build his brand better than the 81 points that he dropped on the Toronto Raptors in 2006. Fans can now see another side of the Black Mamba other than that famous scowl he wears inside the court.

Bryant has more than 1.7 million followers, but the honor of most-followed athlete on Twitter goes to Brazilian footballer Kaka, who plays for Spanish giants Real Madrid. Kaka was the first athlete to have 10 million followers. What's his secret? Aside from tweeting in English, Spanish and Portuguese, he takes time to personally respond to birthday tweets, which shows that he's a nice guy on and off the pitch.
 
Tweets show an athlete's true colors

Twitter has been a blessing for Bryant, Kaka, and many other athletes that have been well behaved Tweeters. The rules are simple, after all: don't tweet something that you wouldn't want others to hear you saying. Unfortunately, common sense seems to have abandoned a lot of athletes when they use Twitter, because for every grateful, humorous, inspiring or thoughtful line tweeted, there are others that are incoherent, malicious or just downright mean. Athletes like Metta World Peace (aka the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest) and Chad Johnson aka Chad Ochocinco really don't have much of a reputation to protect so they don't care too much about what they tweet. For Metta, tweeting is mostly for shameless self promotion; for Ochocinco, Twitter is a venue to shamelessly flirt with women and to share his inanities. Ochocinco after all, is someone who can't seem to do anything right. A cereal company even messed up a business phone number (read more) on an Ochocinco cereal that was meant to support the Feed the Children charity, but ended up directing callers to a sex line.

MWP and Ochocinco are among the worst athlete Tweeters, but they don't have the dishonor of tweeting the worst lines. Even though most athletes are not that famous and don't have millions of followers, this doesn't mean that they should care less about what they tweet. Take for instance Chris Kaman of the Dallas Mavericks and Todd Herremans of the Philadelphia Eagles. Kaman seems to have zero regard for animal welfare, mocking People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Twitter, while Herremans had to apologize to Eagles management after posting a homophobic tweet.

Former Redskins linebacker Robert Henson and New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony make Kaman and Herremans seems like Twitter saints. In 2009, Henson insulted his team's own fans, calling them "dim wits," while in 2010, Anthony allegedly offered $5,000 to whoever can slap a groupie named Kat Stacks (Anthony claimed his Twitter was hacked). We most likely haven't seen the last of athletes misbehaving on Twitter. What we have learned is that it doesn't matter if you're famous or not – always think twice, thrice or even more times before typing and hitting the Tweet button.

Author Bio
Monique Jones is an Engineer who deals with telephone systems. Besides being an Engineer, she also works as a part time writer. She helps her colleagues and other people about their communication issues, giving effective solutions to address their needs.