"You never know who may be looking!". These were the blustering words that came out of our coach's mouth. I have never in my life have seen our head BC men's soccer coach, Ed Kelly, so serious before he gave us a reinforcing lecture about Facebook. During pre-season, our soccer team had a mandatory meeting with the head Athletic Director at Boston College about the dangers of Facebook.
Facebook users create a profile page that shows their friends and networks information about themselves. The choice to include a network means that everyone within that network can view your profile. The profile typically includes information about themselves, status, friends, photos, notes, groups and wall posts.
Most college athletes don't understand that they are in the public eye more than an average student and what they post on their Facebook's could come back to hurt them. Our athletic director basically preached to us at the meeting that anything that can be written or visually understood could be taken the wrong way and be shown in a negative light. He told us that albums posted that display our pictures at last weekend's party or a message that discriminates against other people or even personal moods such as status's could be a fatal blow to our careers. He also said that we have to be cautious not only for our own appearance and for the reputation of our school, but we have to be aware of the repercussions of having fans and what they may do as a result of athletes having a Facebook page. At the meeting, He brought up the incident that happened at USC and wanted us to learn from there mistake so that it would never happen to us.
It all began with a team nickname in a racially diverse USC football team. One of the black coaches dubbed the team's white players "White Nation". Clay Matthews, one of the white players, then took this nickname to Facebook and created a new group. Matthew's group was intended for his fellow white football players as an inside joke, however he posted a picture of a black baby in handcuffs and a reference to its potential crime. The group description also joked about the Aryan Brotherhood. Another USC student came across the group and was bothered by the racist overtones of the group so she created a group called "Clay Matthews Expresses Anti-Black Sentiment". As more poeple learned of the group, it became a public relations nightmare. One potential student mentioned in the student newspaper that he has doubts about attending USC after hearing about the controversy. Matthew's in the end apologized explaining it was an innocent joke about the football team.
Although it was in innocent joke on Facebook for the football players it got out and was a huge controversy. That is why our athletic director was so sincere in the meeting and told us to to be very careful of what we are posting on our Facebook's. From that day on I think twice before I post something on my profile.
For more on the USC controversy click here.
There is certainty a danger in one posting self-incriminating information. But what bothers me is potential for 'friends' to post photos that may make you look bad. There is nothing the individual can do about this, especially with the ability to 'tag' a user in a photograph.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are legal implications to such sharing of photographs, particularly with privacy issues. However, many of these laws are not written into law, and are interpreted on a case by case basis, which means Facebook has no incentive to take down a potentially offensive photo, unless it will be a financial burden to Facebook itself.
I wouldn't be surprised if these issues, in the near future, are addressed in courts and in congress.
As student-athlete i agree with your blog, we are always under a lot of pressure to monitor the way we conduct ourselves.Any actions that are reported by the media can be portrayed in a negative light and can give the school you attend a deplorable reputation.
ReplyDelete