Manchester United has this morning launched its official Twitter (@ManUtd) and Sina Weibo (www.weibo.com/manchesterunited) pages. The news was released to the New York Stock Exchange.
Over 100,000 followers have signed up in the first 60 minutes.
The news follows the announcement in June that David Sternberg, the chief executive of Universal Sports, had been recruited to grow the club’s social media output. Steinberg works out of both Manchester and the club’s base in London.
United was hitherto the only Premier League club without a twitter presence.
The official statement states that the “The micro-blogging services will allow fans around the world to engage with the club in a way they have never experienced before with iconic artwork, behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive content sent directly to their news feeds.”
The account initially launches in English, with foreign-language versions to follow shortly while the club’s new Sina Weibo account will provide content in Mandarin to the service’s 500 million users.
The club already has over 34 million followers on Facebook and claimed over 67 million page views on its ManUtd.com website during the final month of the 2012/13 football season.
There has also been a rebrand of the club’s official press office Twitter account which now be known as @MU_spokesperson.
Richard Arnold, group managing director, said: “Connecting with our fans is a key part of the club’s strategy. We have invested a lot of time and resource into providing the best media offering for its fans, which is evident from the recent MUTV acquisition and today’s Twitter and Sina Weibo launches.
“Every month there are over five million Manchester United related social media posts and the level of engagement we have with our fans via social media is amongst the highest of all top global brands. I look forward to these new ventures further extending the club’s interaction with its fans around the world.”
A quick glance at those the account is following showed that Wayne Rooney is the first listed tweeter it is following. Scotch those transfer rumours at once…
