My Top 5 Athletes Using Social Media

Social media has become one of the biggest parts of people's every day lives more and more every year. Everyone is on social media, and now athletes are beginning to break into the social media world to promote themselves, and their sponsorships. Similar to Tom Brady (see previous article for more details) athletes are utilizing social media now more than ever to build their personal brands, promote themselves, their teams and their sponsors. This post will examine the top ten athletes based off my own research who are utilizing social media the best to promote their personal brands, or the brands that represent them. The athletes listed are in no particular order.

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron has taken his social media game to the next level in the last few years. With 41.5 million followers on Twitter and 36.8 million on Instagram (izea.com) he has very diverse platforms. King James uses his social media outlets to promote himself and his team, celebrate other athletes who are excelling at their sport, share videos and pictures about his kids and their personal successes, or post about social justice issues going around in the world today. LeBron, unlike other athletes, has been vocal on topics such as racial injustice on social media, which sets him apart from other athletes who refrain from addressing controversial topics on social media.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Retired WWE and NFL athlete
While The Rock is a retired athlete turned movie star, he maintains a strong athletic presence on social media, with his 58 million followers on Instagram and 13.1 million on Twitter (sporteology.net). The Rock has an interesting Instagram profile in which the majority of his social media content is posted. As a retired athlete and current actor, his posts range anywhere from his workouts which serve as motivational posts for those needing an extra push in their exercise, to him promoting his movies and TV shows, to his posts with his kids and fans hyping them up. The Rock maintains a motivational and influential platform for all of his followers to benefit from.

Simone Biles, United States Gymnast
Simone Biles bursted into pop culture and the sports realm after her five olympic medal performance at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (izea.com). Although her following is not as large as the two athletes mentioned previously (3.3 million on Instagram) she is incredibly influential and utilizes her Nike sponsorship to promote women in sports. She has several posts with young girls and women athletes promoting and celebrating women in sports using the hashtag #NikeWomen. Simone also is incredibly transparent with her personal life, balancing content between sponsorship posts with Nike, and personal life updates. This balance provides a unique platform that engages all audiences across the country.

Serena Williams, Tennis
Serena Williams has become the face of tennis in the past few years, thanks to her success on the court and her recent pregnancy while playing. Serena has 10.9 million followers on both Instagram and Twitter, and like Simone Biles, is a Nike sponsor and utilizes that on her platforms. Serena is big into using the Nike campaign, "If they think your dreams are crazy, show them what crazy dreams can do" (Nike.com) and showcasing women athletes excelling in their respective sport. Serena has become one of the biggest influencers in the gender equality in sports and uses her social media to promote that. She is incredibly successful on and off the court, and even gives a glimpse into her life as a mom on her accounts, which her fans find incredibly engaging.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus
Regarded as one of the most famous soccer players of all time, Ronaldo has an incredibly large following thanks to the reach of soccer around the globe. The Juventus forward has 125 million followers on Instagram and 77.3 million on Twitter (izea.com). Ronaldo's social media is a classic sports social media influencer account. He posts pictures and videos of him and his team practicing and performing in games, but posts about every single one of his sponsors, big and small. Ronaldo engages all fans of all different races and nationalities thanks to his reach due to the large audience of soccer, and his wide variety of endorsements ranging from Adidas, to his own personal underwear brand, @c7underwear.