We here at Wombat Sports are encouraging fighters to take up using social media. The innovation has helped make the women’s MMA divisions stronger in countless ways, and other female combat sports are taking the hint.
Most fighters have a Facebook account, which is great. However, some feel a bit inept or lost when it comes to twitter. We notice some barely use their accounts at all even if they have them.
There are many advantages to being on twitter. It tends to more active and real time than facebook. Not to mention it is easier for promotions to push people towards your twitter than your facebook.
Here are a few tips when creating and using your twitter account.
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What’s in a handle? How to pick one…
Sometimes the simplest is the best. Most go by their name (@RondaRousey) or if their name is taken add MMA (@AlexisDavisMMA). You can always have fun with the handle with a nickname like @rowdybec and or @MMAheartless.
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Getting Set-up. Description is key…
In order for people to find you, this is a key step. First name is helpful and so is last. If you don’t want to use your last name, that’s okay.
Make sure your description give some details. Saying your a MMA fighter helps tons. Most put “pro mma fighter 115” or “ammy bantamweight mma fighter”. Some put their gym, record, ect., which is optional. If you give some description you are more likely to get more followers.
You can link your facebook and personal site as well, and we highly recommend you do so.
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Don’t Think of it as “What do I say in 140 Characters?”
Rather, think of it as the “World’s Largest Chatroom”. The idea is to say something in a sentence or two; be it a thought, an announcement, or reaction to something. Once you say something, people will interact with you once you have some followers.
The beauty of twitter is that even if you are shy, you can find it easy to say something on twitter. Know a lot of female fighters who don’t talk much in person and say a lot on twitter.
The most important think to know is what you say on twitter goes out to the world, so please be mindful of what you tweet. We hear a lot of stories of someone tweeting something stupid and it becoming news an hour later.
Also you can delete tweets. On your twitter page, simply select “delete” under the tweet.
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Getting followers – it’s about who you know at the start…
What do we mean? When you set up your account, it’s important for you to get those people you know that have twitter accounts to let their followers know you are on twitter. We are great at doing so, so make sure to tweet us @WombatSports and we will let the world know you are there.
Twitter is more fun when people can engage in a conversation and having people follow your timeline.
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Follow those you like
The wonderful thing about twitter is access to those who you make like in terms of celebrities, fighters, and friends. Make sure to follow them. Interaction is the basis for this social media form, and fighters especially are active with a lot of their followers. This is why it is important for fighters to get a twitter in the first place – gaining a fan base.
You can follow us @wombatsports & @wmmanews.
We also keep a solid list of fighters twitters here if you want to see who else to follow.
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Tweet Often – Doesn’t Mean Always
One of the biggest misconceptions is that you have to be active on twitter for hours a day. You don’t really. Once or twice a day is fine, even if it’s just to say “hi” or let people know how your day was.
The usual busy times for tweeting for MMA fans is during a big MMA card. This is the best time to interact on twitter, and it’s fun.
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Basic Twitter Lingo
Here are the terms you need to know:
Timeline: A list of your tweets and the people you follow’s tweets.
@name: putting the @ sign with a twitter handle in front of a tweet directs the tweet to a certain person. People that follow you and him/her will be able to see it and also appear on your timeline. Putting the @twitterhandle in the middle or end of a tweet will put it out to all followers and “tags” that person in the tweet.
#/”Hashtag”: a way to reference a subject so anyone on twitter can see your comment. e.g. #wmma. You can usually click a hashtag to see if anyone commented on the same topic. If one topic is being discussed more among twitter users, this is called “trending” and twitter will usually list the top ten list of them somewhere.
RT/”Retweet”: someone relisted a tweet from another user. Sometimes you will be asked to retweet something, which you can do so by clicking the arrowed box below the tweet.
#FF/”Follow Friday”: people recommended to follow on twitter.
DM/D/”Direct Message” – Putting “D” or “DM” before a tweet will private message someone without going out to the world.
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When in Doubt, Link Facebook to your Twitter
…or your instragram. Many people simply use this instead of tweeting because they don’t like the limiting 140 characters.
Here is step by step instructions how to do that.
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Don’t be Scared to Ask Questions
Any questions, just tweet us or facebook us.
Wombat Sports 