The growth of Twitter forms positives and negatives that force college athletic departments to monitor student athlete's actions

Sport communication research, by Browning and Sanderson, explores how NCAA Division I athletes use Twitter and how they react to critical tweets from fans. By interviewing 20 athletes, analysis found that most student-athletes use Twitter for keeping in contact, communicating with followers, and accessing information. Universities have had to make an extra effort to keep an eye on problematic. Student-athletes cannot be entirely controlled and neither can fans, who could be provoking them.

The rise of Twitter and other social networks has caused college athletic departments to evaluate its influence. A survey conducted in 2015 found that 73% of student-athletes are using Twitter, 94% have a Facebook account, 81% have an Instagram account, and 89% have a Snapchat account. Social media technologies continue to expand making usage inevitable within college students. 

Communicating with followers is one of the main reasons athletes use Twitter. Athletes like to give young athletes some game tips, respond to their pre-game "good lucks," as well as send them some encouragement.

Although Twitter has formed a smaller world between athletes and their fans, it has made it easier for fans to express their emotions and opinions. This has created a hostile environment within Twitter. After a bad loss, fans tend to send acrimonious and unfriendly tweets. Student-athletes carry a large target on their back, especially after bad losses. When they pick up their device and read such tweets, they have to decide if they respond and how they respond.
According to Browning and Sanderson, student-athletes were found to respond to critical tweets in multiple different ways:
1) no response at all
2) perceived as motivation
3) difficult to deal with
4) delete/block user from Twitter timeline
5) have followers deal with the "critic"
6) Subtweet about the "critic" (tweeting about them without mentioning their Twitter username)
Similar to wild fans at a game, social media opens up another field of attack. Extreme fan behavior is an important component to keep in mind. Those that identify themselves with sports teams and athletes use platforms, like Twitter, to achieve gratification. Fans were found to  use Twitter for interactivity, information gathering, diversion, and argumentation. Sports fandom is a part of many's social identity causing this issue hard to clear.

This has also been a problem with high school students, who have just committed to a college. When football player, Mike Davis, decided to decommit from the University of Florida, the wave of negative tweets almost drowned him. Some fans were respectful but sending Davis congratulatory tweets. However, a large portion were attacking him. Student-athletes, coaches, fans, and universities are all affected by the Twitter phenomenon. Social media is a powerful tool. With the involvement of multiple bodies of people, it is even more important for student-athletes to be guided through their internet representation (if universities wish to prevent issues). Sport communication researchers have been called by athletic departments to help them educate their student-athletes on the pros and cons of social media. The rapid involvement of Twitter cannot be controlled. Universities can only work to educate their athletes and staff.

Universities provide social media guidelines and etiquettes to create responsible student-athletes 

Janet Judge, president of Sports Law Associates LLC, visited Ithaca College to discuss the use of social media with student athletes. Ithaca College is amongst a number of schools that has had individuals visit to teach social media etiquette. A survey was conducted in 2013 that studied social media use and student athletes.  In the graph to the right, it can be seen how a large percentage of student-athletes have not received social media training. Participants vary from Division I, Division II, and Division III.

Along with social media instruction, Judge speaks about how she does not want student athletes to lose their voice because of what should or should not be posted. Athletes' profiles should be able to express their personalities. She advises that athletes think about the strength of consequences and how they outweigh their reputation. Universities warn students that it is not only Twitter and Facebook, but also Instagram, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Flickr.

The University of Maryland has provided direction in the 2015-2016 Student-Athlete Handbook. Its guidelines are some of the following: 

• Represent the University of Maryland with Honor
• Do No Harm
• Think Before You Post
• Does it Past The Publicity Test?
• Be Respectful
• Understand Your Personal Responsibility
• Abide by NCAA Rules

UMD’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Assistant Athletic Director for Life Skills and Career Development, Sue Sherburne, says it is important for athletes to learn how to make a brand professionally. UMD athletic policies are said to give students an opportunity to reflect about their posts.

Sherburne says she and other individuals have worked together to work with athletes, especially freshmen, and to get them thinking. In addition, each UMD sports team has an Sports Information Director (SID). SIDs are available for students who need any assistance when it comes to public media.
 

Athletic departments have taken different roles at different schools. So far, UMD has been successful with their athlete representation. 

College athletic programs’ social media ban may fail to comply with college athletes’ First Amendment rights  

The University of Louisville basketball head coach, Rick Pitino, forbids his players from tweeting, which can be deemed as unconstitutional. Not only did Pinto say social media wastes time, but he believes social media will affect their communication skills. Louisville is amongst other men's basketball teams that have been withheld from tweeting, such as Iowa, Purdue, and Iowa. A similar rule was made for Clemson University and Florida State football teams and University of Connecticut's women's basketball team. Public universities could be liable for suppressing students' free speech.

It was said that the football players of Clemson and Florida State decided on the policy, but for the most part head coaches have been making such decisions. Coaches are of the opinion that they are protecting their team. Bad publicity is the last problem coaches want to have. The University of Akron and other universities have policies that state, "Do not have a false sense of security about your rights to freedom of speech. Understand that freedom of speech is unlimited" (The University of Akron, 2015).


Numerous social media policies remind students that their participation in a collegiate sport is a privilege not a right. There are many tasks and actions athletes have to perform when they join and team, and this is one of them. UMD softball head coach, Julia Wright, shares how student athletes need to be held more accountable than those who just attend the university, when asked about the statement "playing a collegiate sport is a privilege not a right." 

There are only university guidelines, not exactly any enforced rules. Coach's have had to take more responsibility in their players' online representation. There has been controversy about the role of a student-athletes at their university.  Athletic departments have to consider repetitional concerns and high code of ethics, therefore student-athletes have to follow policies to prevent any potential problems. Universities can and have experienced backlashes because of what has been said or done on social networks. The NCAA only becomes involved if their rules are violated, for example, being provided of illegal gifts. Wright expands on what student athletes should stay from, especially her team. She tells her players, "If you don't want your grandmother to see it, don't post it."

Athletes are representing more than just themselves that is why monitoring is necessary. This issue is also present in professional sports. Coaches are just as concerned about their players on the professional level. 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel, received a lot of public attention not only for his football status, but his behavior off of the field. From being thrown out of parties to being arrested, many were turned off by Manziel. He has had countless tweets that were dropping jaws everywhere. When he was a college student, he was being investigated for possible violation against NCAA rules. 

When the NCAA violation came up 275, 000 tweets were about Manziel. In the graph to the left, you can see how many tweets were sent on in over a two-week period. Manziel is prime example of how strong social media is in regards to the sports world. 

Citations:

The University of Akron. The University of Akron Department of Athletics Social Network Policy for Student-Athletes, 2015. PDF File. 

Lehigh All-American football player suspended for using racial slur in a tweet 

In 2011, Lehigh University's top receiver, Ryan Spadola, was suspended for using a racial slur to describe players on the Towson University football team on his Twitter profile. The tweet was not posted originally by Spadola. He forwarded/retweeted someone else's tweet causing him to miss the Division I Football Championshup Subdivision quarterfinals against North Dakota State. Afterwards, the school provided campus discussions about derogatory racial language and its effect. 

Lehigh media relations assisted Spadola in forming a public apology. The university wants the suspension to represent the idea that this behavior is not something they tolerate.

Such incidences have been learning experiences for coaches and universities. Spadola was not the first or the last student-athlete to get in trouble for inappropriate tweets. This has been a common trend in the athletic world since the development of Twitter. Twitter has been the most common platform where student-athletes get in trouble. According to Spadola's suspension, it does not even have to be your original work.