Until a couple of years ago, social media did not exist, and professional athletes had to go through the media to show their personalities and communicate with their fans. But recently, sites like Facebook and Twitter have given pro athletes the ability to be themselves and speak for themselves. I know I would have liked to have social media during my career, but I'm happy to have it now. Here are five athletes who, for various reasons, really would have benefited from having social media during their careers. It would have been fun to see.
1. Muhammad Ali
What social media app would have been most suitable for The Champ? I could see Ali having been great on Ustream. He had a personality that shined best in person, and an unforgettable voice. Ali was a man with deep political and religious beliefs, and he would have used Ustream to share them with the world.
2. Babe Ruth
Ruth would have been king of Twitter in his day. I can only imagine some of the tweets and Twitpics that would have come from his account. I'm not sure the Red Sox or Yankees would have been too happy about it, but then again, Ruth was pretty open about his extracurricular activities and I don't think anyone cared as long as he kept playing the way he did.
3. Wilt Chamberlain
Being a bit of a flirt and a ladies' man, Wilt would have been a champ on Flickr. I could see him creating albums and albums full of all of the women he met. Also, he loved the camera. Like I said, he was a big man with a big personality and a lot of confidence, and he loved the spotlight. Flickr would have helped Wilt shine.
4. Deion Sanders
In his playing days, Deion Sanders would have had some great tweets. His would be similar to the style of current NFL player and Twitter aficionado Chad Ochocinco; a lot of trash talking, calling out his opponents, and confident self-promotion. My only concern is that he would not have been able to limit his comments to 140 characters!
5. Dennis Rodman
Rodman actually has a Facebook Fan Page, but it's pretty tame now that he's retired -- imagine what he could have done with Facebook while he was a player. He was known to throw and attend a lot of parties, and could definitely have taken advantage of Facebook Events. Rodman would have been able to exhibit his personality through videos and photos, and it sure would have been interesting to see some of the status updates that came from his Fan Page!