After talking about all the ways that athletes can improve the way that use social media properly, I thought that I'd take some time to talk about how if social media is abused it can have some dire consequences. After poking around on the Mashable website, I came across a video describing the Top 10 Athlete Gaffes Aided by Social Media. So I thought I'd talk about some of the best of the worst? or is it worst of the worst?
After the tsunami in Japan, WMBA New York Liberty player Cappie Pondexter (@cappa23) tried to offer a holy explanation to the natural disaster by tweeting the following tweets:
"What if God was tired of the way they were treating their own people in their own country. Idk guys he makes no mistakes."
"u just never knw! They did peral harbor so u can't expect anything less."
Rashard Mendenhall also had one of his own Twitter blunders. On the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11 Mendenhall had his own theory about the attacks tweeting:
"@dkeller23 We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style"
These are just some of the examples of the exact reasons why athletes need some one coaching them off the court about how to use social media. There are lots of fans (especially young ones) that look to athletes for guidance, or as role models and that is exactly why they should monitor what they say on such a public sphere. I'm not saying that Pondexter or Mendenhall cannot have these beliefs but they should not be using social media to make these comments. It's a price that comes with being such a public figure.
Here's the link to the Mashable Top 10 Athlete Gaffes Aided by Social Media video that inspired this post: http://mashable.com/2011/12/08/ten-athlete-gaffes-aided-by-social-media/
These are good examples why certain teams have adopted social media policies. I'm a huge fan of the New York Jets and I know they strictly enforce when the players can be logged on to social media - for example, not for a certain amount of hours before or after the game. I think it's important that these athletes understand that they are celebrities and they are going to have attention called to them when they make outlandish comments. They should be held responsible for the things that they say on social media platforms.
ReplyDeleteIt is important for celebrities to be hyper-aware of what they're saying on twitter as their accounts are very public and can be accessed by fans of all ages. I can think of several instances over this past NFL season that players got themselves into sticky situations over inappropriate tweets to competitors. These were then brought to national attention by sports commentators or ESPN broadcasts. Ultimately, the players need to be held responsible and possibly even trained on how to use these social media tools in a manner that represents their team/franchise well.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you talked about how these sports celebrities are role models to younger fans, whether they want to be or not. The comments they make on social media should be considered as important as a comment they would make at a press conference, if not more important. Things posted on twitter of Facebook are accessible to so many people. People who may not hear what these celebrities say through other mediums such as interviews, press conferences, or television news shows. So many people are only seeing one side of these celebrities, their personal side. While it is great that celebrities have the ability to be known for who they are off the court or field, they should not take the freedom for granted.
ReplyDeleteI blogged about this exact same topic earlier in the year. Twitter really does give athletes an amazing opportunity to connect directly with their fans and critics alike. This gives them such a great opportunity to positively give back to fans and allow individuals an opportunity to see their thought process. It also gives them 140 characters to really screw up. It is amazing how such successful and smart (usually) individuals can create such a blunder for themselves. For example, NBA player J.R. Smith possibly gave away the fact that he was a gang member through his Twitter. Another example is Minnesota Timberwolves' star, Kevin Love, tweeting out a farewell to his coach before the news had been officially released. Oops. Finally, one that really takes the cake was a few years ago when Antonio Cromartie was fined by the San Diego Chargers for complaining about training camp food on Twitter. How dumb can you be? Save it for yourself? This really proves that athletes do, as you say, need a life and social media coach. You would think that this would be common sense, but I guess not.
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