Charlottean taught Shaq to tweet?

A Charlotte woman taught Shaq to tweet? Who knew?

Shaquille O'Neal is a giant on Twitter, with nearly 2 million followers. He's famous for his playful and frequent posts.

Kathleen Hessert, the same Charlotte consultant who bailed out the Southeastern Conference in its social media missteps this week, put Twitter in the big man's hands.

An impostor was tweeting under his name, and his team, the Phoenix Suns, wanted to bring in legal counsel. Hessert said no, just let the real deal blow the fake away. She helped O'Neal get on Twitter as THE_REAL_SHAQ, and he took to it right away. "The first day he sent out, I think, 17 tweets," she said.

This week, the SEC faced a flurry of fan dissatisfaction over its policy, released earlier this month, banning social media at all athletic events. The aim of the ban was to protect a $3 billion contract with CBS, which could be threatened, the conference believed, by YouTube posts. Fans protested online, questioning why even Twitter would be banned in the stands. Many fans pointed out that the ban was unenforceable.

Facing a PR disaster of grassroots dissent online, the SEC turned to Hessert, who has also advised Penn State, the University of Virginia and ESPN on social media problems. Hessert runs the consulting firm Sports Media Challenge from her six-person office at N.C. 51 and Carmel Road. She advised the SEC to listen to the fans, and answer them -- on social media. Rather than issuing a press release to mainstream media, Hessert posted an interview with the SEC to her blog, and tweeted out the news.

“Issuing the new policy on social media was absolutely intentional,” said Hessert, “If the conversation is fan-generated, you've got to be where they are.”

While blogs commented and fans protested online, The Observer was the only traditional media to cover the story early this week, said Charles Bloom, an SEC spokesman. “Ninety-five percent of the feedback we got was online,” he said.

The new policy only bans broadcasting or recording what could be “a substitute for radio, television or video coverage.” And if a fan does record a game, “nothing will happen in the stadium,” said Bloom. The conference's tech advisers will work with YouTube or another site to pull the pirated material down.

Hessert said in both the case of O'Neal's impostor and the SEC's missteps, all that was really needed was a change in attitude by the organization.

“Everyone is grappling with what to do with this stuff, but it's not the tech that gets in the way,” said Hessert. It's often a matter of embracing the dialogue, she believes. “It's a cultural thing.”