Dealing with social media problems iin the wake of Brett Favre
Hardly a week goes by where there isn't a story about a professional or college athlete who has posted some controversial personal item on their Facebook or Twitter page. Or in the case of Brett Favre, a text or answering machine message.
The natural reaction from the public is "What were they thinking?" by ripping a coach, manager or teammate.
Based on our training sessions conducted all over the country, there is an overwhelming belief on the part of most athletes that their posts are private and confined to a select group of friends. One of the most challenging aspects of our communications training is to convince athletes that what they post goes considerably beyond their circle of 'friends" or "followers" and most often will wind up in the mainstream media.
We conducted a pair of seminars for Major League Baseball in September, instructing representatives from all 30 teams about the impact of social media--most importantly, how its reach has penetrated newspaper, radio and television coverage of their sports. Many of the executives who came up to us after the session said they received a real eye-opening education about the impact of sites like Facebook and Twitter and to laud our presentation's ability to show how really public these sites have become.
Facebook remains the overwhelming choice of most athletes with whom we work; Twitter remains a fascination for many media members who have tried to reach out to customers who are fleeing newspapers daily. Many former colleagues we worked with when we were in the media tell us they have Facebook accounts and regularly log in to see if there is any information they can get on athletes to use in their reports.
Favre's case crystalized what should be a template warning plate for all athletes. Nothing is private anymore. With sites such as Deadspin and Bad Jocks patrolling the web to get salacious pictures, messages or comments, they have to understand they live a fishbowl existence.
Our recommendation to MLB execs and the scores of other college athletes with whom we work: never post or text anything you wouldn't mind seeing on the front page of a newspaper or leading the 11pm Sportscenter.
The natural reaction from the public is "What were they thinking?" by ripping a coach, manager or teammate.
Based on our training sessions conducted all over the country, there is an overwhelming belief on the part of most athletes that their posts are private and confined to a select group of friends. One of the most challenging aspects of our communications training is to convince athletes that what they post goes considerably beyond their circle of 'friends" or "followers" and most often will wind up in the mainstream media.
We conducted a pair of seminars for Major League Baseball in September, instructing representatives from all 30 teams about the impact of social media--most importantly, how its reach has penetrated newspaper, radio and television coverage of their sports. Many of the executives who came up to us after the session said they received a real eye-opening education about the impact of sites like Facebook and Twitter and to laud our presentation's ability to show how really public these sites have become.
Facebook remains the overwhelming choice of most athletes with whom we work; Twitter remains a fascination for many media members who have tried to reach out to customers who are fleeing newspapers daily. Many former colleagues we worked with when we were in the media tell us they have Facebook accounts and regularly log in to see if there is any information they can get on athletes to use in their reports.
Favre's case crystalized what should be a template warning plate for all athletes. Nothing is private anymore. With sites such as Deadspin and Bad Jocks patrolling the web to get salacious pictures, messages or comments, they have to understand they live a fishbowl existence.
Our recommendation to MLB execs and the scores of other college athletes with whom we work: never post or text anything you wouldn't mind seeing on the front page of a newspaper or leading the 11pm Sportscenter.
Posted by Randy Minkoff at 10/18/2010 7:19 AM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: be aware of range of posts Use common sense
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: be aware of range of posts Use common sense
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