Tuesday, Oct 16, 2012 8:07 pm

The 6 Most Influential USC Trojans In Social Media

TJ McDonald is influencial both on the field and off.

We know which players dominate USC football on the field. But what about when they’re off the field and online?

We wanted to know which Trojans were the most influential players in social media, so we turned to Klout.

Klout is a company that crunches social media data and measures how important someone is across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Foursquare and more. It spits out a number on a scale of one to 100. The higher a person’s number, the more influential he or she is across the web.

Klout’s data isn’t without flaw, but tons of companies are beginning to use it to see how important certain individuals are. Microsoft uses it in its Bing search results, for example. Billionaire Richard Branson and Virgin use Klout scores to determine perks for hotel guests.

So we turned Klout on the USC Trojans to find out which football players rule the social media roost in Southern California.

Here are your six most influential USC Trojans off the field, online:

6. (Tie) Kyle Negrete 

Klout Score: 60
Twitter Followers: 3,383
Tweeter Handle: @kylenegrete

What’s so special about USC’s punter? First of all, he is a self-proclaimed lover of long walks on the beach and his grandma’s pancakes. His Twitter is chock-full of encouraging tweets and interactions between him and his fellow Trojans. It’s clear that this is a guy who takes the time to read and retweet his followers and fans — just the kind of attention anyone would want from a superstar athlete.

The best part about his Twitter feed is the genuine excitement and humble attitude he has about playing the game. Negrete was a walk-on and has proved to be one the best punters in the nation. That’s why he’s nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy this year and why he’s tied as USC’s fifth most influential players in social media.

 

5. (Tie) Robert Woods

Klout Score: 60
Twitter Followers: 13,589
Twitter Handle: @HeismanWoods

When he’s not returning kicks for touchdowns or catching passes from QB Matt Barkley, Robert Woods is ridiculously active on Twitter. Known to tweet over 25 times per day, it’s no wonder he’s getting so much Klout love. His confident, Heisman Trophy-inspired Twitter handle and his awesome plays on the field bring in big numbers of fans and followers. He even keeps fans updated with a healthy amount of TwitPics.

Better yet, if you ask for a shout out, Woods is likely to retweet you or even reply.

 

 

4. Scott Starr

Klout Score: 61
Twitter Followers: 2,193
Twitter Handle: @SS47ERA

What is is that makes Scott Starr so popular in the social media universe? Maybe it’s the down-to-earth way he tweets. Or is it that luscious head of hair he’s showing off in his profile picture? Whatever it is, his Twitter account makes him seem like he’s your average guy.

Starr might be new to the linebacker position at USC, but he’s fitting right in. Followers probably enjoy the fact that even athletes have to skip watching TV to do homework. The best part about this tweet is that his mom responded to it.

 

 

3. (Tie) Khaled Holmes

Klout Score: 66
Twitter Followers: 4,414
Twitter Handle: @KhaledHolmes

Khaled Holmes tweets about Space Jam. If that’s not reason enough for him to be tied for second place, then what is? Well, there are plenty of reason followers love him. His picture might be scary, but his tweets are often friendly. He’s even agreed to meet up with fans to have his picture taken. As much as the social media universe loves jerks, it loves nice guys too like Khaled.

Not only does he interact with fans; he seems to tweet at his fellow teammates quite a bit and keeps followers up-to-date with team activities. You can bet the USC’s center’s popularity will grow as long as he keeps giving Barkley good snaps.

 

2. (Tie) T.J. McDonald

Klout Score: 66
Twitter Followers: 8,883
Twitter Handle: @tmacUSC7

McDonald’s Twitter picture says it all–this guy is passionate. The free safety’s aggressive on-field play is probably the number one reason he has such a social media impact. He doesn’t tweet as often as the other guys on the list, but he is quick to express his views when he does. Retweeting other players and praying for others, McDonald is an interesting guy to follow both on and off the field.

While he’s working hard for USC’s defense, it’s also clear that he cares about the community he’s playing for. McDonald and the rest of the team helping out in the community have even garnered them some converted fans:

 

 

1. Matt Barkley

Klout Score: 78
Twitter Followers: 76,936
Twitter Handle: @MattBarkley

Barkley crushes the competition both on the field and online with a Klout score that’s 12 points higher than his nearest teammate. His score is probably helped by the fact that he was the first college football player to be verified by Twitter. Additionally, USC has an IPhone app named “Project Tro7an” that keeps track of USC Heisman candidates like Barkley, which can’t hurt his social influence score.

There’s a reason Barkley’s nickname is “Matty Trojan” — he’s Mr. USC.

A Pittsburgh native and a 2012 University of Georgia Broadcast Journalism grad. Lives and breathes Pittsburgh sports and enjoys college basketball and UGA sports. Follow Kristin on Twitter: @kbows.

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