The Bundesliga's Twitter stars
Cologne - The accessibility and reach of social media has allowed fans to gain greater insight into the lives of their favourite Bundesliga stars in recent years - and the players themselves are happy to oblige by posting pictures and messages from training sessions, matches and even their holidays.
Xabi Alonso
Regardless of whether they use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other platform, the Bundesliga's finest are guaranteed legions of devoted followers. bundesliga.com - which you can follow here - takes a look at some of the top-flight's most active users.
The FC Bayern München midfielder is of the "less is more" school of thought on Twitter, and keeps his followers wanting more with sporadic posts. Still, the strategy evidently works, as the Spaniard has more followers than any other player in the league: a whopping 9.45 million!
Manuel Neuer
Alonso's team-mate Neuer is likewise very choosy with his posts, a fact that also appears to be appreciated by his fans. The 2014 World Cup winner has well over three million followers hanging on his every word...
Mario Götze
The 23-year-old is a keen social media user, posting updates several times a day - in both English and German - of his activities, whether he is out shopping or enjoying a day off at a nearby lake.
Marco Reus
The Borussia Dortmund attacker is close friends with Götze, having played together at BVB and in the German national team for several years. He regularly enjoys keeping his followers entertained with photos of his latest antics...
Andre Schürrle
As can be seen from the picture above, the VfL Wolfsburg winger is also close to Götze and Reus, and meets up with them privately whenever their schedules allow - documenting the occasions with the obligatory selfies, of course...
The Bundesliga's top 11 Twitter stars
(Data correct as of 21 August 2015)
And don't forget....
You can follow the Bundesliga on Twitter via our news and features account - @Bundesliga_EN - and our live account - @BL_LIVE_EN. Get involved!