Weekly Social Download: So you don’t have to stress out that everything just changed again.

NBA Launches First-Ever Social Media Awards

The NBA has been embraced as one of the top professional sports leagues using social media in recent years. With official National Basketball Association league and player pages accumulating over 277 million likes and followers on Facebook and Twitter combined, the NBA decided to celebrate the involvement of players and teams using social media with its first-ever NBA Social Media Awards.

The NBA is not the only sports league to embrace social media. Major League baseball also has a strong presence. Last year they hosted the first ever #BravesBash to let fans interact with they favorite players, let Stephen Colbert take over the @MLB twitter handle, and allowed tweeting on the field at the Home Run Derby. This year they plan to increase engagement by setting up Pinterest and Tumblr accounts for all 30 teams and by allowing players to tweet on the field at the upcoming All Star Game.

With so many leagues and players already taking advantage of social media it’s no surprise that Twitter recently announced a partnership with ESPN to allow fans and advertisers a unique, interactive way to integrate broadcast TV with online social conversations around major sports events.

What do you think is coming next for sports and social media?

Renault 4: The Facebook Storytelling Campaign

Renault Netherlands recently launched a Facebook campaign focused around the story of Hilda and her Renault 4. The concept of the story was that Hilda had loved her Renault 4 but she was now too old to drive and her car was left sitting in the garage. Hilda wanted to give the car away to someone who could also enjoy driving it. Facebook users were asked to visit the Facebook app to play virtual ‘hide and seek’ around an interactive house placing a tag where they thought the missing car key was. The person who placed a tag closest to the missing key would win the car.

The reason many companies do well in social media is that they use social interactions to share their culture and people. As brands’ social media presences become more sophisticated, more brands are taking advantage of platforms like Pinterest and Instagram to tell their story visually and create a more meaningful connection with fans.

What’s the best example of storytelling you’ve seen on a social network?