SBJ: Duke, Zion Williamson Seeing Steep Growth In Social Media Followers

Duke freshman Zion Williamson likely will play a major role in tonight’s North Carolina-Duke game, but his impact on the Blue Devils has been evident since he stepped on campus July 1. Duke basketball already had the largest social-media following among team accounts before Williamson arrived, but the combination of the two has vastly accelerated their numbers. Williamson became an Instagram star in high school, and since officially joining Duke 7.5 months ago, the school’s men’s basketball Instagram account has added 285,000 followers, according to data from Duke Athletics Creative Dir Dave Bradley. That is more than the total number of followers for every basketball program but two — UNC and Kentucky. Williamson’s Instagram account has grown even more since July, adding 680,144 followers on his personal account, a 42% increase to 2.3 million. His 16.6% interaction rate on Instagram easily outpaces the basketball accounts for Duke (3.67%), UNC (3.60%) and UK (1.86 %).

TAKING FLIGHT: Williamson’s first viral moment as a Blue Devil came in August as they were preparing to play a series of exhibitions in Canada. During a team practice, Williamson dunked from the free-throw line, igniting a social-media firestorm. The video generated over 7.5 million impressions on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. During the first seven weeks Williamson was on campus last July and August, Duke’s Instagram account gained 55,000 followers, more than the 50 most-followed basketball programs combined.

MOVING THE NEEDLE: No one drives traffic and interest like Williamson — nine of the Blue Devils’ top 10 Instagram posts since July featured Williamson prominently, and four of the top 10 were exclusively about him.

SOCIALLY SPEAKING: Tonight’s game features not only the No. 1 and No. 8 teams in the polls, but also the No. 1 and No. 2 teams on social media, according to data from social media measurement firm Hookit. Duke’s biggest spike last year came in November at the start of the season, with 61,028 new followers. UNC’s best month last year was in March, with 28,383 new followers.