Inside Facebook

On Sunday, in the longest Wimbledon final ever (in terms of number of games), Roger Federer took home his sixth Wimbledon Cup, beating Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. And what was he doing both before and after the epic battle? Posting videos to his Facebook Page, apparently.

Federer’s page now has around 2.6 million fans, with a huge spike taking place (not surprisingly) on the day of the final. According to PageData, Federer gained about 55,000 fans on that day.

Both before and after the final, Federer connected with his fans by sharing pre- and post-final messages on his Wall. Throughout the tournament, Federer updated his fans with photos, and even a couple on the outfits he could be spotted in. On the Wall, you’ll see that the athlete has also taken the time to converse with his fans be it via Q&A or simple status updates.

Compared to his counterparts who are also reaching and communicating with their fans through Facebook, Federer ranks #2 on the Athlete leaderboard – leading David Beckham, Rafael Nadal, and Michael Jordon, but trailing behind Michael Phelps. Federer’s page, however, stands out not only in terms of the frequency of updates, but also in the level of personalization. There is a real conversation going on here. This is the type of connection and rapport athletes and other celebrities on Facebook can be building on Facebook, because as much as fans are in love with your brand, they’re also poking around for the real identity behind it.

	Name	Fans
1.	Michael Phelps	2,562,618
2.	Roger Federer	2,233,348
3.	David Beckham	1,993,482
4.	Rafael Nadal	1,812,496
5.	Michael Jordan	1,214,100