Are you ready for some football … on Twitter? Many NFL players are. Twitter popularity among NFL players is on the rise, and not without a little controversy.

While the NFL has issued some rules restricting NFL players, coaches, and staff on tweeting, overall the organization seems to be embracing social media, or at least accepting it. And why not? Twitter allows fans to follow their fav players and get a more indepth glimpse into their lives. And the players seem to enjoy the outlet (though they better be fairly careful with their tweets).  The biggest restriction imposed by the NFL: No tweeting during games. Players, coaches, and staff cannot tweet 90 minutes before game time until after the post-game interviews have been completed. While that might be the NFL’s main rule, some coaches and teams have imposed even stricter rules (just ask David Clowney).

NFL player/twitterer, David Clowney (@davidclowney) learned what not to post the hard way. New York Jet’s coach, Rex Ryan benched Clowney after he tweeted, “1 play in the 1st Half, 4 plays in the 2nd half. A bit disappointed about my playing time but very happy and satisfied about the win.” Though a mild complaint, this tweet was enough to upset Coach Ryan and earn Clowney a seat for the next game.

Not surprisingly, Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) with the Buffalo Bills is also an active Twitterer.  Owens recently responded to former Patriot Rodney Harrison’s (now an NBC analyst) criticism with tweets about Harrison’s past suspension for steroid use. “Hey Rodney if I really considered using them, could u please lv instructions on how & where 2 stick the needle just like u did 2 assure …”

Perhaps the MVP of Twitter is Chad Ochocinco (@OGOchoCinco) of the Cincinnati Bengals. He joined Twitter in late May and has 8, 049 tweets as of this post. If you followed his tweets last night, you’d have seen pics of Jerry’s World as Ochocinco watched Monday Night Football from a suite at Dallas’ new high-tech stadium. He posted this tweet, clearly impressed with the new stadium: “Jerrys World is one of those things you never forget, like your first kiss or when you lost your vir..ty!!! Words can’t describe what I saw!”

While players might have more Twitter rules than the average Twitterer, they don’t seem to be letting up on the tweets. And that’s good news for fans! NFL and Twitter fans win every time with this match up. Search for you fav NFL player and start following their tweets today.

Even thought Twitter founder, Biz Stone says that there are no plans before 2010 to place ads on Twitter, the marketing heads have already valued the company at a cool $1 Billion dollars.  Can’t get you head around that number.  That is 1000 million or $1,000,000,000.00.  There you go.  Amazing for something that started way back in oh’ 2007.

Full story here…   http://bit.ly/4Bde1D

With the rise of Twitter, growing faster than a weed in the garden patch it is such an exciting time to be so involved and a part of the social media landscape.  I love numbers and statistics.  I guess that is why I am drawn to stuff like this video.  I like how the information is presented.  So it’s as much as style as the numbers themselves.

Did you know?  4.0  Enjoy

The lates version of their video series.   Content by XPLANE, The Economist, Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Laura Bestler. Design and development by XPLANE.

These numbers should leave no doubt about the meteoric rise of Twitter and other social media outlets.  The thing that sets Twitter apart is that the conversation is in real time.  Look at those Twitter numbers especially the number of Tweets per day.

Twitter:  23 million unique visitors/day;  3 million tweets/day

YouTube:  85 million video views/day

Facebook:  300 million active users, 122 million visits/day

LinkedIn:  43 million members; 13 million daily avg visits

Blogs:  133 million currently indexed by Technorati.

Source:  Circle Research

Cligs,  is a new URL shortening site that does much more than shorten URLs for Twitter etc.  I like the tracking mechanism.  It gives almost instant feedback on the effectiveness of links you are providing to your readers, followers and tribes.  The screen shot shows the activity I received from just a few tweets from last night.  I was surprised because I have a limited following in the specific Twitter account that I tweeted from.  Even the hyperlink in the beginning of this post is a Clig.  Enjoy Cligs.

Here is a graphical representation.  Use your imagination when considering long term tracking of a Clig.

Twitter Counter is a great tool for looking at where you are now in the Twittersphere and where you might be headed.  There is a free version and a paid version.  Depending on what level of detail you want.  You decide.  It makes nice predictions and keeps track of your progress over time once you sign up for an account.

This ““Mad Men” vs. #Twitter – An Opinion on the Fortune 10” post written by Beth Frysztak (@bethfrysztak) was originally published at Beth’s Blog:  Network Your Life, on September 6th, 2009.  Beth is a cool twitterer, charismatic leader, successful marketer & Mom of 2 who thoroughly understands how to satisfy customers.  She is passionate about networking and “all things connected”.

Beth Frysztak

When I meet people IRL (in real life) – new acquaintances, peeps that I know well, friends, co-workers, and even family, there are only a handful of people who “get it” when I talk ‘Twitter’.

I speak so often to companies that I work with – as well as new corporations I am strategizing with – to talk about the value that their brand can receive through the right use of Twitter.  So, why is it when I ask a standard response is, “Yeah, we’re on Twitter”… I then ask them, “what does that mean?”.

DO LARGE CORPORATIONS REALLY GET IT?

Many large corporations do not.  They are struggling with the change from a world with ‘Mad Men’ media – to a world where messaging is cluttered, media is fast paced, multiple channels are available, and ‘Social Media’ is perceived to surpass other forms of media in short order.  So, what does this mean to your brand?

HOW DOES A BRAND BECOME EFFECTIVE IN 140 CHAR?

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This post is based entirely on the post Statistics Show Social Media Is Bigger Than You Think – by Erik Qualman (which he posted August 11, 2009)

Video compilation of Erik Qualman explaining his Socialnomics with relevant social media statistics.  The book is in stores now.  Got mine last week! 

social media isn’t a fad,

it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate

Erik Qualman has written a book called:   Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business.

Socialnomics Contents

Socialnomics Chapter One in PDF

Socialnomics book at Amazon

Erik Qualman’s Photostream at Flickr

Stats from video after the jump:

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Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s family used twitter (and a website) to update details about arrangements, who would speak at the Friday memorial service and famous Edward Kennedy quotes.  (Funeral photos / Funeral Program)

Through the use of twitter and their website, the family was able to keep people directly informed and make information available to people who could not attend in person.  This gave the family the ability to manage events related information in a way that could not have been done had the coverage been left entirely to the press.

(This post is in no way an endorsement of Senator Edward Kennedy’s views, opinions or actions and is merely an observation of how twitter is being used as it becomes an ever more central part of how we communicate.)

More of @kennedynews tweets after the jump:

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