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CANTON -If its game night for the Syracuse University mens basketball team, chances are Zachary T. Keller is glued to his TV set, equipped with the new iPod he received for Christmas.
Mr. Keller, 20, has been a die-hard SU fan since he was a toddler watching the games with his grandfather, Karl D. Keller, also an avid fan.
Now hes sharing his devotion with other SU basketball supporters through a Twitter account he created in July 2011 called, @SyrBall.
His followers have grown from just a handful to 4,252.
For the first few months the number of followers was just in the single digits, Mr. Keller said. It just steadily grew and grew. I think people see my tweets as a credible source of information.
He tweets updates during games and other tidbits on non-game days. During the off-season, he tweets about player recruits and other information he learns abut the teams players and coaches.
Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters known as tweets.
Interest in Mr. Kellers account has grown as followers share his messages with their own followers, a process known as re-tweeting, that spreads the word among a wider audience, attracting additional devotees.
Earlier this month when his favorite SU player, James Southerland, was allowed to play again after being suspended, Mr. Keller sent out a tweet, Welcome Back, #43, James Southerland. The tweet drew roughly 200 re-tweets.
I like the fact that Im sharing information. Ive always thought of myself as one of the bigger SU fans, he said. Twitter is all about information going in and out. Its like a chain reaction. Its pretty cool.
Mr. Keller, a 2011 graduate of Canton Central School, is planning to join the U.S. Navy. He is also the son of Marie A. Keller and grandson of Kathy Keller. The family resides at County Route 27.