Athletes Using Twitter Is Pointless, Unless It’s in the Hands of Shaq and Cuban

Most athlete Twitters are boring. I know they give us some totally unvarnished insight into their personal lives, but so would their phone bills. It’s one-way communication (for the most part) that’s even more stunted than a post-game interview -- with the only advantage being that there’s no pretense of formality. So sorry if I don’t see this as a great window into these formerly unknowable media creations. If you want to read a bunch of text messages, and observations so frivolous you either have to think the player’s actually dumb, or the medium’s just not made for revelation, knock yourself out. I still think the athlete blog is the future, but then again, I also believe in print.↵
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↵At the other extreme, though, are dudes like Shaq who realize that the whole world is watching his Twitter, and this is a chance to affect coverage of him on a micro-level. It’s a promotional tool for the internet age, a way of infiltrating the shadowy world of message boards, rumors, and blogs without having to make much of an effort. In short, instead of allowing us to see more of the real O’Neal, it allows Shaq more control than ever.↵
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Did I spoil all the fun? I’m sorry. Maybe you should take a look at this lengthy, slightly imbalanced account of the supposed Shaq/Mark Cuban courtship, in which Twitter has played a major role. Let’s put it this way: If Twitter didn’t set the parameters, or start the rumor, it certainly stepped in to stoke the flames or guide speculation at key points. From Dallas Basketball:↵↵⇥Some of our information is sourced (as described above). Some is 2+2=4 stuff. And some of it comes from reading between the lines of Twitter and the like. Immediately after the game, Cuban Tweeted a message praising Shaq’s effort in Dallas’ 140-116 win. After Shaq Tweeted about the Grassy Knoll, he sent a message to Cuban, asking that the Mavs owner contact him. (Hey mark cuban call shaq or email him) And after that, Cuban wrote: “shaq found me. wish I could say what happened. I kept my cool.”↵⇥
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↵⇥All of this was initiated by Shaq as he was heading out to enjoy his “favorite NBA city,” mourning the possible end of his Suns career, contemplating the “green grass” of Dallas and relaxing until 4 a.m. in that club.↵↵If anyone thinks that these two master self-promoters just accidentally, or candidly, put this information out there for the benefit of their friends, you’re an idiot. Cuban’s been using his “personal” blog to fight his professional battles, sometimes covertly, for years. What we’ve got here is an even more aggressive, and disingenuous, form of intervention into the theories snowballing online. So keep getting played, or enjoy other stars’ more “pure” updates on what time it is.↵