Australian netball on Facebook and Twitter
When I was compiling the list of Twitter accounts for the ANZ Championship, I found several Australian netball team Twitter related accounts, including ones for Australian Diamonds, Petersham RUFC Netball Club, ACE Netball Club, Orcas Netball. I got details regarding the total number of followers, checked totals on Facebook and compared these to the ANZ teams. The following table was generated:
Australian Netball on Facebook and Twitter
| State | League | Team | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | ANZ Championship | Melbourne Vixens | 1,764 | 860 | 904 |
| Australia | Netball Australia | Australian Diamonds (national team) | 1,651 | 1,580 | 71 |
| Queensland | ANZ Championship | Queensland Firebirds | 213 | 0 | 213 |
| New South Wales | ANZ Championship | New South Wales Swifts | 90 | 0 | 90 |
| Western Australia | ANZ Championship | West Coast Fever | 66 | 0 | 66 |
| South Australia | ANZ Championship | Adelaide Thunderbirds | 62 | 0 | 62 |
| New South Wales | Netball New South Wales | Petersham RUFC Netball Club | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| Queensland | Brisbane Netball Association | ACE Netball Club | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| Victoria | Plenty Valley Netball Association | Orcas Netball | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Canterbury Tactix | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Central Pulse | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Northern Mystics | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Southern Steel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand | ANZ Championship | Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic | 0 | 0 | 0 |
For the smaller club teams that are more about participation, there just is not a Facebook interest in them. This is not surprising as listing a team you participate in recreationally might seem odd; you’re not a fan but a player and the team isn’t professional or top level so it is unlikely others will want to find you as a result of your participation. At least two of those teams have a Facebook presence to share news but this is not enough to get people to list these teams as an interest.
Beyond the clubs listed, there are some regional accounts for those interested in Australian netball. They include @NetballAust – Netball Australia (72 followers), @Sydney_Netball – Sydney and New South Wales netball news from a newspaper (31 followers), and @netballvic – Netball Victoria (20 followers).