Comments on: The Most Popular NBA Teams on Twitter and Facebook

By: Adam Sherk

Adam Sherk — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:19:42 +0000

Yago sent me updated Twitter follower and Facebook page like counts for each team that his student pulled yesterday. I've used that data in a new post today: Which NBA Teams Have Seen the Most Growth on Twitter and Facebook?

By: Yago Colás

Yago Colás — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:54:13 +0000

The students are fascinated by this. In fact, one will be pulling the current figures for extra credit. Thanks for the idea.

By: reservoirgod

reservoirgod — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:47:30 +0000

Never mind – I see your post is from 2010, not 2011

By: reservoirgod

reservoirgod — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:46:48 +0000

Twitter reports @MiamiHEAT has 94,369 followers. Why the big discrepancy w/ your numbers?

By: Devin Kharpertian

Devin Kharpertian — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:12:11 +0000

Oh, I see. My mistake. I was directed to the post today and read it as 2011 without thinking. I’d be interested in a post like that. Thanks for letting me know!

By: Adam Sherk

Adam Sherk — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:07:26 +0000

Thanks Yago.

Devin – this post is from January 2010 so the figures are a year old now. It’s good to see how much the Nets have grown their reach in the past year. Maybe I’ll do a follow-up post to look at growth percentages for all the teams.

I did do a follow-up just on playoff teams and Facebook last May: NBA Playoff Teams Ranked by Facebook Page Engagement

By: Devin Kharpertian

Devin Kharpertian — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:58:24 +0000

As an aside, the Nets have almost 29,000 followers on twitter and 59,000 fans on Facebook.

http://twitter.com/netsbasketball
http://www.facebook.com/NetsBasketball

By: Yago Colás

Yago Colás — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:52:36 +0000

Great post, Adam. I’m passing it on to my “Cultures of Basketball” students.

By: Adam Sherk

Adam Sherk — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:31:35 +0000

Thanks for your comment and insights Peter. And good point on the Lakers and Magic being on Twitter’s Suggested User List, that explains the major discrepency there.

By: Peter Robert Casey

Peter Robert Casey — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:14:26 +0000

I like how you summed up the misperception of social media being a popularity contest: “While building up followers is great, it’s what you do with that following that really matters.”

The Lakers and Magic get to enjoy the fruits of being anointed to Twitter’s ‘Suggested User List,’ and thus the skewed standings. The 2nd place Orlando Magic have 983,232 followers compared to the 3rd place Boston Celtics with 25,605 followers. Winning helps, but this stroke of luck is clearly the difference maker.

At the end of the day, engaging fans, enhancing the fan experience and boosting ROI should be at the core of any social media strategy implemented by NBA team properties. That happens when you follow the action items you listed above.

Great work, Adam.