Inside Facebook

Already among the most popular Twitter users with more than 820,000 followers, NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal has started sharing content on his Facebook public profile and added more than 150,000 fans in just the last two weeks. O’Neal now has over 300,000 fans on Facebook.

Those who keep tabs on Shaq’s updates are treated to constant updates and entertaining content. His Facebook page is already populated with a number of candid photos and videos, including one in which he states his intention to become the “Facebook king.”

A select number of athletes have already established a strong foothold on Facebook, and it seems that Shaq is poised to make his page among the most popular. He has already cracked the top 10 most popular official athlete fan pages and will probably continue to rise from his current 8th position as more of his fans jump on board and word of his Facebook page spreads.

	Name	Fans
1.	Michael Phelps	2,173,000
2.	Roger Federer	1,052,902
3.	Rafael Nadal	970,264
4.	Michael Jordan	644,389
5.	Ryan Allen Sheckler	515,228
6.	Maria Sharapova	364,939
7.	姚明 Yao Ming	353,512
8.	Shaq	311,357
9.	Kobe Bryant	274,314
10.	LeBron James	258,677
11.	Lance Armstrong	248,484
12.	Tiger Woods	232,872
13.	Dwyane Wade	193,059
14.	Anna Kournikova	172,327
15.	Tracy McGrady	121,547
16.	Magic Johnson	118,025
17.	Steve Nash	91,411
18.	Venus Williams	90,466
19.	Derrick Rose	85,657
20.	Susi Mai	81,022

High-profile athletes are becoming more of a presence on Facebook, which offers new direct access points to fans letting athletes further develop their personal brands. There is a massive amount of money being passed out to popular athletes to peddle shoes, clothes, sports drinks, and any number of products, with billions being paid to reach and relate to potential buyers for these goods.

Building strong Facebook fan bases offers a somewhat personal connection between these athletes and their fans. If these superstars devote the time to making the page feel genuine (as it appears Shaq is doing), they can expect to remain relevant, which is really what the companies handing out sponsership dollars want to see.