From the season-ticket holder to the avid supporter who lives far away, social media tools are helping sports franchises keep all fans engaged.

Last fall, when officials from the Phoenix Suns NBA franchise noticed that an imposter was posing as star center Shaquille O'Neal on Twitter, their response was what some might consider unorthodox.

They enlisted O'Neal, one of the NBA's most popular and quotable players, to use the microblogging service himself, without monitoring by team officials.

As O'Neal has traveled ...