Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo "will sometime on Tuesday become the first athlete to have 100 million Facebook followers," according to Charles Sale of the London DAILY MAIL. This puts him nearly 30 million fans in front of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. The commercial power of Ronaldo, who also has 30.5 million Twitter followers, "was demonstrated when he posted six messages over two days advertising the Tag Heuer watch brand." These received 34.9 million Facebook hits and 2.4 million likes, "valued at more than" £300,000 ($478,000) by the watch company. Ronaldo's former ManU teammate Wayne Rooney earlier this month "became the first Premier League footballer" to reach 10 million followers on Twitter (DAILY MAIL, 10/14).
MAKING A COMEBACK: The AAP reported social media may not have been kind to former National Rugby League side Cronulla player Todd Carney of late, but it did not stop him from "using it to say goodbye before attempting yet another rugby league comeback." Four months after his NRL career "was killed off by a lewd act that appeared on Facebook, Carney used Instagram to share his thoughts on his imminent move to English Super League club Catalans Dragons." He posted, "I am really excited to go over to France, this isn't the end of me, it is just the beginning!!" (AAP, 10/14).
TWITTER TROUBLE: The BBC reported EPL side Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand "has been charged with misconduct" by the FA over social media comments. An FA statement said, "It is alleged the comment posted on his Twitter account was abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper" (BBC, 10/14).
