NiceBallz - Play Ballzy

Recently we ran a post that called out fans who follow golf personalities on Twitter, and contribute to an increasing trend of foul behavior.

Not surprisingly we caught some flak. At the time we promised to take a look at the flip side of the same coin: How well do players represent themselves via this still emerging new media channel?

The short answer: it varies.

There are those who seem to fundamentally understand what the service is about and how it can benefit them. Stewart Cink, Christina Kim and a number of other LPGA players to give a few examples. Regardless of how insightful any one person may find their tweeting style, the Cink and Kim-like tweeters at least engage with their followers and share views into their lives that are atypical from the yawn-worthy “Having pizza…” updates. 

Kim in particular has dealt with some comments that pushed the lines of common courtesy, and instead of running from them she has taken on impolite tweeters directly, often winning them over.

But some of the momentum from just a few months ago when PGA and LPGA players were joining the service in droves seems to be waning. 

Paula Creamer’s account (http://twitter.com/thepaulacreamer) has been deactivated or purposefully suspended by her. It’s unclear which is the case. If Creamer decided the micro blogging service wasn’t her cup of tea, that’s fine by us. It’s worse to have an account and rarely, never or half-heartedly use it, than to not be involved in the service at all. 

Jane Park left the service, even though she was one of the more entertaining players to follow.  Meanwhile Michelle Wie began to win over some people with her tweeting. No small feat given the negative perceptions about her that were formed from afar by many golf fans in recent years. But her interaction with followers has at times come into question with one blogger claiming that Wie blocked him after he wrote a critical post.

If that’s the case, it’s emblematic of one of the less-than-flattering views fans now get into some players’ personalities. Some can at times appear to be thin-skinned, a bit shallow, perhaps a tad whiny and even snippy.  These things feed into perceptions that can seem valid on occasion: some players seem to want sycophants as followers, and real dialogue, which may include criticism, isn’t welcome.

The players, by in large, get what they want in that regard. There are many fans who are fully devoted no matter what, and a fair number of blogs that would never dare publish anything that comes close to what could be deemed as criticism. None of these behaviors can or should be put on the players in any way. But their reaction to a valid criticism (or invalid for that matter) can be.

The players simply mirror all of us – the unwashed masses who follow them devotedly. Though, they can be (fairly or not) held to a different standard. Dealing with a few (and let’s be clear, in our observation it is a small minority that cross the line of decency and good taste) less than flattering followers is arguably a small price to pay for the benefits of the interaction they get with more gracious fans and followers.

If players want to use any social media service to build their personal brands, increase their fan base and develop more of a rapport with those fans, then a semi-thick skin and willingness to ignore the occasional onslaught of jerkstores is required.  There is tremendous upside, especially for players who may not be as popular, or well known as Tiger, Phil, Lorena and Annika.

Or, as it seems some have chosen, they can decide simply that this Twitter thing isn’t really for them. And that’s ok, too. Depending on the individual and their true persona, sometimes less is more.