The Power of Social Media = #Linsane

Maybe you're not a sports fan, but you don't have to be one to be familiar with the new term "Linsanity." It might not actually be a real word, but it is the latest rage across all social media channels. Thanks to social media and NBA fanatics, the New York Knicks point guard, Jeremy Lin, has earned himself several new nick names in addition to hundreds of thousands of new followers. 

Less than two weeks ago, Jeremy Lin was nothing more than a bench warmer, and now he's been averaging 26.8 points and 8.5 assists per game. Those are incredible numbers for a point guard, compared to Chris Paul (L.A. Clippers player largely considered to be NBA's best starting point guard) is only averaging 18.5 points and 9 assists per game. 

Between Lin's 38-point game and win against one of the best players in the league, Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers, and his winning three-pointer in the final seconds against the Toronto Raptors, his story became an instant social media explosion. 

Lin's social media fan base has increased dramatically, spreading his story like wildfire. His Twitter account had 10,000 followers at the beginning of February and now has close to 400,000. So far, his peak fan growth was +51,000 Twitter followers in a single day. Lin's Facebook page, which had 46,000 fans in the beginning of February, has increased to over 700,000. Even his Klout score has increased from 59 to an all-time-high of 83. According to Topsy, a realtime social search engine, in the last seven days, "Jeremy Lin" has been mentioned 183,000 times, "Lin" 392,000 times, "Linsanity" 59,000 times, "Lin for the Win" 7,253 times, "Linsane" 4,313 times, and the list goes on. 

Lin has now scored 130 points in his first five starting games, which surpassed Shaq for the most since the ABA-NBA merger. Total #Linsanity. Only the power of social media can allow us to see the true velocity of a great story!