Stay tuned-prepare for SHAQ to “enlyten” you!!!

4:19 PM Mar 26th from TwitterBerry

Just like that, Phoenix Suns big man and social networking all-star Shaquille O’Neal made sports marketing history. By using Twitter, Shaq bypassed traditional media outlets to let his 500,000-plus followers know directly about his new endorsement deal with Enlyten, a maker of dissolvable mouth strips that provide athletes with electrolytes.

Shaq is one of the many celebrities to connect with his fan base via Twitter, the newest craze to sweep through cyberspace. The site allows its users to read and write a string of small updates (known as tweets) that, in turn, forms a mini-blog. For celebrities, Twitter can serve a higher purpose. It allows the stars to have genuine contact with their followers and offers greater control over their image. “People want to know about celebrities as people,” says O’Neal’s media consultant, Kathleen Hessert. “Those celebrities willing to share and do it authentically, those are the people who are going to engage fans in a way that builds their brand and perpetuates sponsors, and creates a kind of affinity that’s hard to beat.”

No one knows the impact social networking will ultimately have on the way we communicate. For now, Twitter remains the buzz of the internet community and has been a Shaqtastic way for one of the NBA’s biggest personalities to keep in touch with his fans.