Kent State recently made headlines by banning their athletes from Facebook, the popular social networking service for student and other communities. Student-athletes have until August 1 to take their profiles down.
As a side note to Kent State Sports Information, you might add your own statement about Facebook. A search of your website for Facebook brought up nothing. I wouldn’t let the newspapers report the situation for you. A statement by your Athletic Director would be nice….something to the effect that student-athletes need to be aware that they are public figures and are not only representing themselves, but their universities. It would be wise to discuss proactive measures that they will take– like participating in reputation management classes (which I mentioned later….)
The banning came as a response to student-athlete profiles that didn’t exactly reflect well on the university. A profile for a baseball player featured a photo of the athlete without a shirt, and holding a beer. A track and field athlete talks about her interest in getting drunk and skinny-dipping. Hmmmm…. not the image a university would want to present to alumni about their student-athletes.
New media have raised a number of issues for university athletic departments, who are stumbling a bit as they figure out what to do. New media open huge opportunities, but they also pose some risks. What we need is win-win solutions for everyone involved.
I’m not that old (23), but I remember getting student-athlete handbooks that absolutely forbade you from talking to ANYBODY without the permission of Sports Information. We were told that if anyone came up to us for an interview, statement, or whatever– we had to talk to our SI person first. This would bring up the issue of free speech among student-athletes– do they really have free speech?
Athletic Departments were used to getting interview requests from the press, and that was about it. Student-athlete blogs and profiles, like those being hosted by Trackshark and Dyestat’s “The Pit,” fall outside traditional athletic department policies. Athletic departments really need to keep informed about emerging technologies.
My own website, which I started in 1996, got mixed reactions from the University of Florida when I arrived on campus in 2002. I worked under the assumption that the way you build support for a team or sport is to make the fans feel like they know the athletes as people. Some people loved the extra publicity, but others worried about a student-athlete operating outside the “control” of the athletic department. You can see my newsletters here.
Some universities have responded by designating athletes to blog, under the supervision of course, of the Athletic Department. Bryn Mar thinks this is a good solution. I think this is a great idea, but it shouldn’t prevent other athletes from blogging, too.
As we learn more about the impact of new media, some trends have emerged. Employers fire employees for material posted in blogs or written in emails. They do searches on you before hiring you. The bottom line for the student/athlete/future employee is that you shouldn’t post anything that might reflect poorly on you later on. You can’t assume that something you post on Facebook will only be seen by certain people. If you don’t want your grandmother to see it, don’t post it. If you send out an email or post something on a message board that you wouldn’t want to be published in a newspaper for millions to see, don’t post it.
Athletes need to be aware that they are not like other students. When you put on a USC uniform, people view you as a representative of the university. You become the university logo. It’s not the same as just walking around with a USC sweatshirt on. It’s amazing how people react when you travel as a member of an athletic team. They come up and talk to you. Everybody wanted to know if we knew Reggie Bush or Matt Leinart. We have an obligation to represent our university well, both on and off the field. 😀
Student-athletes also need to be aware of the safety concerns that come with being recognizable. At Florida, a serial rapist was arrested with his car full of printed bios of female athletes from the Florida website. Being recognized is a real rush, but it has its downside. Posting your phone number, class schedules, and where you like to hang out is just stupid– you never know who may be looking.
Instead of banning participation in outlets like Facebook, which may or may not be legal, I think it would be more proactive for athletic departments to provide training in reputation management for student-athletes. We already have training sessions on sex, drinking, agents, and boosters, and it would be easy to add a reputation management module run by a PR professional. This session could provide the tools and strategies that student-athletes could use in interviews, how to deal with a crisis situation, and if you lose in your event or sport.
For athletes going on to the professional ranks of their sport, this could be a very good introduction to the challenges ahead. 🙂 It only gets more complicated as you go on in your athletic career.
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