1. Social Media for Athletes
Presented by Hockey Canada

2. Purpose: Why use social media as an
athlete?
Personal branding
Sponsorship
Engage with fans
Promote a cause

3. How social media can help you
(opportunities)
• Build network
• Get sponsorship
• Promote causes (personal and other)
• Create a name for yourself
• Grow fan base
• Gain respect
• Shape public perception of you
• Receive encouragement/praise for
accomplishments

4. How social media can hinder you
(risks)
• Attract/receive criticism
• Distract from “job” at hand
• Embarrass yourself (team, nation, league,
sport, sponsor)
• Lose sponsorship
• Break the rules = fine, suspension, etc.
• Tarnish reputation

5. Platforms: Which one(s) and why
• Twitter
Why: lots of sponsors using it, large audiences,
short text, relatively easy to understand, get real
time updates/news, mobile friendly
• Instagram
Why: visual, easy to use, integrates with Twitter,
can limit who “follows” you, mobile friendly

6. Getting started
• Know your purpose
• Understand the medium
• Have a good display picture and well-written
bio
• Adjust your account settings

7. Best practices
• Include images (and videos) whenever possible
• OK to retweet on Twitter, but try not to do it
back-to-back (balance of original and curated
content)
• Provide shareable, relevant, value-driven content
– Talk about your development, previous teams, day-to-
day life (exclusive info)
• Be aware and abide by team/tournament rules
• Remember to log off if using a public computer

8. What not to do
DO NOT:
• disclose personal information about yourself or others
• post when angry, upset, tired or intoxicated
• make offensive, defamatory or discriminatory remarks
• engage in controversial, heated discussions
• mention people/companies that conflict with current
sponsors
• post images with drugs/alcohol, money
• do not complain about people/companies/services on
social, not the venue as a public figure

9. Things to remember
• Who you represent – team, league, sponsor,
sport, teammates, family, nation
• It’s almost impossible to ever permanently
delete a post (screen shots last forever)
• People want to hear from you, but they want
to SEE you more
Social media is a tool, not a toy.

10. Things to think about
• What platform(s) make sense for you, your goals?
• What three words do you want people to think of
when they think of you? How can you use social to
build a personal brand?
• What appears when you Google your name? Good,
bad? What do you want to see?
• How to appeal to potential sponsors?
• Do you speak multiple languages? Which one(s) should
you communicate online with?
• Having your own website/online asset (in case a
platform ever folds and you lose everything)