NASCAR Nation shows passion in Social Media

Social Media continues to change the way we communicate with the world and Twitter is the latest "information network" sweeping the nation -- NASCAR Nation included. Based off the texting craze from mobile phones, Twitter allows anyone to plug into a world-wide conversation -- 140 characters at a time.

So how does this pertain to NASCAR?

Like many other sports and entertainment celebrities, drivers, crew chiefs, team owners and media members are joining Twitter and using it to post thoughts and carry out conversations with fans throughout the day. And if you choose to "follow" these individuals, it is a great way to stay connected and informed directly from those you are interested in.

Some of the younger drivers like Jamie McMurray, Brian Vickers, Elliott Sadler, Juan Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Scott Speed and Denny Hamlin are active users but so is the older NASCAR generation including the likes of Bobby Labonte, Kenny Wallace, Kyle Petty, Michael Waltrip and big brother Darrell. DW recently tweeted, "this twitter thing is addictive, it's like having a room full of friends to talk to, fun!"

As of March, Montoya was the NASCAR driver with the biggest following (131,899 people) followed by Nationwide Series driver Danica Patrick (109,288). @MW55 (Michael Waltrip) leads the Baby Boomers with 34,000. Drivers' wives also are getting into the action and attracting plenty of followers. Delana Harvick leads the way with 20,000 followers.

While Twitter will never replace the depth of NASCAR information a fan can get at places like NASCAR.COM, SPEEDTV.com or ESPN.com, it does let you quickly find links to articles of interest by other fans that have read and liked them or even from the authors themselves. ESPN's Marty Smith, Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, Charlotte Observer's Jim Utter and many more NASCAR media members are active Twitter users.

The best way to use Twitter, you ask? When you're either sitting at home catching the race on TV, or even while in the grandstands at your favorite track, just grab your mobile device or laptop and log into Twitter.com. Instantly, you can follow the opinions of other NASCAR Nation members who are watching the same fender-bangin' race action you are.

For the record Twitter is a distant fourth in users as compared to other social media applications like Facebook and MySpace. However, from 2008 to 2009 it jumped 585 percent to more than 25 million users. Most impressive is the fact that people who use Twitter, use it often. Thus if you think DW has a lot to say on the FOX broadcasts, just wait to you see how much ol' DW tweets.