Athletes On Twitter: What’s Your Verdict?
A month doesn’t go by these days without word of a professional athlete getting in all kinds of trouble because of content posted on Twitter. Most recently, soccer player Federico Macheda made international news after being fined by the world’s most visible sports franchise, Manchester United for inappropriate remarks made on his Twitter account.
Macheda is hardly the first athlete to break out the checkbook because of tweets that made the front page. Chad ‘Ochocinco” Johnson was one of the first to face scrutiny for questionable use of Twitter, when he was fined $25,000 by the NFL for sending out tweets in the middle of a game.
Some other expensive (or scrutinized) tweets by athletes:
- NFL star running back Maurice Jones-Drew rips fellow NFL player Jay Cutler for not playing injured in the playoffs
- Another NFL running back, Rashad Mendenhall questions the reaction to Osama Bin Laden’s death in a tweet
- NBA player Branding Jennings coughs up $7,500 after tweeting during a game
- NBA player J.R. Smith costs himself $25,000 for posting inappropriate pictures to his Twitter
There are even concerns about the use of Twitter for college athletes. Recently, a couple of football players came under heat after allegedly using Twitter to contact potential high-school recruits.
There are countless other examples of professional athletes getting in hot water for their choice of words over the Web. There are thousands of athletes on Twitter, and some websites have began cataloging every player for easy following. Whether or not you agree that professional athletes should be role models, there’s no argument that many of them are. Bubba Watson recently experienced an explosion in fan growth after winning the Masters. Some athletes reach a tremendous amount of people, like soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, who has nearly 9 million followers and former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who has almost 5.5 million. In fact, more than 20 athletes now boast a Twitter following of more than a million fans.
Many fans appreciate the unadulterated, and often candid remarks that Twitter brings out of athletes. We’re used to them answering the same questions in the same ways, or having publicists that prevent them from telling the truth about situations. Twitter helps break through walls upheld by media that have separated fans from the athletes for so many years.
The NBA was one of the first sports organizations to take a stance against social media, banning in-game tweeting among other things in late 2009. Other sports leagues have since followed, and now each league has it’s own unique social media policy. Outside of the confines of the league’s policy, teams may offer up their own penalties on a case-by-case basis.
While team owners can dish out fines to their athletes, they certainly aren’t immune from the rules either. Miami Heat owner Mickey Arison took the largest fine to date in the hefty sum of $500,000 for tweeting during the NBA lockout in direct opposition to the NBA’s lockout policy. Also in the NBA’s line of fire was affable Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who took a hit for complaining about NBA referees on Twitter.
It’s not all bad for athletes in social media land. For every athlete who has aired his grievances or made offensive comments on Twitter, there’s double that who are using social media to impact change, support others, or be plain out entertaining.
- NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald vows to donate 10 cents to support breast cancer awareness for every new follower on his Twitter account
- The Michigan Wolverines football field will be supporting a #GOBLUE hashtag on their football field this season to increase fan engagement and enthusiasm.
- UFC President Dana White routinely tweets a location to his fans and personally gives away hundreds of tickets to an event from that location
- Troy Polamalu has been philanthropic in a number of ways through Twitter. Check out his most recent Twitter campaign
If it were up to team owners, I can’t imagine professional athletes would be allowed to maintain social media accounts. Owners have too much invested and too much to lose.
If it were up to athletes, I can’t imagine there would be any restriction on social media use whatsoever. We are raised with understanding of the basic tenet of freedom of speech and expression.
Are athletes on Twitter doing more good than harm? Do you see any reason they shouldn’t be allowed to tweet content at their own discretion? Do you understand any of the current limitations in place? Share your thoughts with me below.
