Why you should be using Twitter for Fantasy Football success!

“I’m a grown man!” Little bird avatars, tweets, twerps, and everything in 140 characters seems ridiculous.

Yes, I used to think the same thing; however, once I saw Rich Eisen start using Twitter during the NFL draft, a light bulb appeared on top of my head.  He was revealing who was selected 10 seconds before it was announced live.  So you can get information before everyone else can, this is pure genius!  I know for some of you it will take some convincing, so let’s break down why you need Twitter to be more successful in fantasy football.

Latest Info – Do you crave the newest information with an injury or draft signing? Twitter gives you up to date information. People like @JasonLaCanfora , @richeisen , and @Adam_Schefter are breaking injury stories and draft signing throughout the day and night. If you are getting ready to draft or smack dab in the middle of a draft, you can get all the information before it appears on a football blog or website.  Timing is everything.  When it came out this morning that Bret Favre had retired, it took ESPN 10 minutes to report what was already known on Twitter.  When Knowshon Moreno went down with a hamstring injury on Sunday, the story broke quick enough on Twitter that many fantasy drafts were changed.  Imagine being the owner who didn’t know, yes it turned out that his hamstring may only keep him out for three to four weeks, but what if something worse had happened.  Twitter allows you to get text messages from people of your choosing for updates when you are away from your computer.

Beat writers – Great, there are some people on Twitter who know something about football, but I only care about my fantasy team.  You are in luck; every NFL team has at least one beat writer on Twitter.  A Pittsburgh fan and Hines Ward owner like me can learn from Jim Wexell from steelcityinsider.net about the Steelers practices as they are happening.  Learning about each days practices and what the coaches and other players are saying can be a good source of “inside info” to use against your fantasy league.  Jacksonville’s TE Zack Miller, who played QB in college, was on the field taking some snaps under center for some gadget plays. It may add a little to his fantasy value; you never know.

Interaction – Twitter offers personal interaction with some of your favorite players and fantasy experts. Guys like Ocho Cinco, Miles Austin, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Ray Rice use Twitter often.  They interact with their fans quite a bit.  They share bits and pieces of their personal lives.  Some share a bit too much, like Ocho Cinco.  It is just fun learning about these guys as people, not just football players.  Fantasy experts are all over the place as guys like Adam Caplan from scout.com and Fox Sports and the insufferable Matthew Berry from ESPN.  Guys from this site as well, @PFF_Fontaine and myself @AndrewMiley, are more than happy to answer your fantasy questions as are most fantasy football writers and podcasters. In fact, I don’t know any fantasy websites that do not have a Twitter account.

League use – You can also keep in touch with your league mates by following them on Twitter.  This just means that you get a copy when they post something. Maybe they are talking about a player you have and want to explore a trade or they are targeting someone and you can select that player before they do.  There are many people that elect to not post at all and just follow other people. Be careful though as anyone can see who you are following. Talk trash with them if you want the world to see it. You can be as interactive as you want to be on Twitter.

Opportunities – For a guy like me, Twitter opened up some amazing opportunities.  Without Twitter, unless you played in leagues against me, you would not know me or be reading this article. I answered a tweet (Twitter message) asking for a volunteer to talk about fantasy football on a podcast in January. Jim Day, @FantasyTaz, gave me that chance and I kept on talking.  A few months later I decided I needed to write an article about dynasty trading and the next thing I knew I was writing for this site as well as FantasyDC.com.  I got to know each site owner through Twitter.

Twitter gives you the latest injury and rookie signings. Each NFL team has a beat writer that clues you into what’s going on at practice, what the coaches and players are saying. Interact with NFL players and top notch fantasy writers.  Keep track of league mates and interact with them. Open up new opportunities for yourself.  100 million people who are on Twitter can’t be wrong.

Good luck.