I recently saw a post in a forum by someone asking why blue belts start athlete pages. This got me thinking about the potential usefulness of an such a page. So, without further adieu here are the top 5 reasons every jiu-jitsu practitioner from white to black belt should have an athlete page:
- It’s a place to post jiu-jitsu related stuff that won’t drive your “civilian†friends and family nuts. I mean, seriously, imagine if you were not into jiu-jitsu and had jiu-jitsu posts pop up on your newsfeed every day. An athlete page is a nice place to keep those posts sequestered to people you actually want to have see your posts.
- If you ever actually get decent at jiu-jitsu and start accumulating fans and sponsors, it can be helpful to keep that separate from your mundane “regular†life. The reality is that very few of us will make it past blue belt, and that even fewer of us will be able to win matches on a regular basis or get sponsored. But the rare few who do would be well served to have a Facebook athlete page and start collecting followers now so that they look good to potential sponsors.
- It gives you a chance to fluff up non-achievements. Remember that tournament where you took third in a three-man bracket? A Facebook athlete page will finally give you a way to make good use of that participation medal, and those who weren’t there won’t know any better.
- You can collect that awesome Facebook money that you get once you hit 300 fans on your Facebook page. Don’t believe me? Try it out. Actually on second thought, don’t I’m just kidding.
- But seriously, it can be a way to look like a big shot to members of the opposite sex. That chick you met at the bar? After you add her on Facebook you can totally invite her to like your page.  “I’m kind of a big deal in the jiu-jitsu world,” says the guy who has been training for about a year and a half and has competed twice.
In all seriousness, it doesn’t matter. Athlete pages serve a purpose only for those who are able to collect enough “likes†to be relevant. And believe me, collecting likes isn’t easy. I have over 2500 Facebook friends, most of whom are jiu-jitsu people who added me after reading my posts here, but somehow less than 600 of those like my Facebook page, and less than half of my 1300+ likes are comprised of my Facebook friends. Most Facebook pages fall by the wayside.
If having a page makes you happy, cool. If it helps you get attention from companies, cooler. Just be honest about your achievements (or lack thereof) and have fun with it. I’m sure that most of the biggest non-competitor personalities in the jiu-jitsu community started their pages as a gag. I’m looking at you Mr. Jiu Jitsu.
Most importantly, give my page a like,
