Social Media: A Gift or Curse to Sports?

            I’m sure if you found your way to this article, that you have a pretty good grasp on what the term “social media” means.  If for some reason you still don’t or would like a refresher, social media are all the new ways people interact and socialize using certain websites or mobile applications on their phones, iPods, tablets, etc.  Chief among these are facebook and twitter where millions of people from all age ranges can share their ideas and thoughts on whatever they wish.  Sounds pretty amazing, right?  For the most part it is until the inevitable took place. 

All forms of media are subject to the same thing: censorship.  Now the extent of censorship naturally depends on the form of media.  Newspapers and television must adhere to certain standards ranging from language to content because of how public they are.   Social media’s standards are far less strict because they benefit from the internet’s less strict censorship; that is, until you enter the domain of sports.

In that regards, there are two sides of the coin.  On one side, fans have the ability to be as vocal and outspoken on their opinions as they desire.  From praising their favorite athletes or team on a brilliant performance to directing swears or sometimes even threats to those who in their eyes, underperformed to some extent.  And then there are of course the fans that are what we would simply refer to as “haters”.  If asked to make an intelligent argument on why they dislike a team or player, they simply fire a barrage of unrelated “facts” or opinions at you.

The other side of the social media coin is for the players themselves.  Having a facebook or twitter is an amazing way for them to connect to their fans and really reach out to a community.  But in the past few years we have seen a growing trend among athletes’ social media accounts.  They’re ultimately subject to perhaps the strongest censorship of all.  No, not from the sites themselves but instead from coaches, agents, front office executives, or even owners.  Now this is where things get a little tricky because you can’t just divide the sports up and say “alright, baseball players get more freedom than football players” because it doesn’t work that way.  It truly is a team by team basis regardless of the sport.

Let’s take a couple of interesting examples and show you how far apart the two ends of the spectrum really are.  On one end, let’s take a look at the Dallas Mavericks from the NBA.  This is probably the only example right now in the whole world of sports, where the players might ask the owner to tone it down on his social media accounts.  Currently there is no more vocal an owner in sports than the Mavericks’ Mark Cuban.  If he isn’t fined during the course of an NBA season for breaking down every which way one poor official or another blew a call, then it doesn’t feel like a real NBA season.  One would think that the players in that locker-room would have more leeway than most others because they can merely state that they’re following ownerships’ lead.  I for one think it’s great when an owner has such invested interest in their team that they’re its biggest cheerleader and publicist (as long as they don’t overshadow the team itself).

Now as an example of that opposite side of the spectrum, let’s take a look at today’s New York Giants.  The defending Super Bowl Champions from the NFL have taken a real conservative, business-like approach for quite some time now but never as much so since Tom Coughlin became head coach.  He brings about an air of professionalism and expects his players to conduct themselves accordingly.  If one of them steps out of line, as players tend to do from time to time no matter the team or sport, he is quick to show that he still is in total control and the situation is handled.  The true mark of a conservative, professionally run organization is when a situation arises and you hear the phrase that it’s “being handled in-house”.

It’s amazing but not really surprising how teams adopt the personality of those in charge, whether it is the owner or the coaches.  Just look at the wide range of coaching personalities in sports right now.  For every Ozzie Guillen, who once a month puts his foot in his mouth and brings ownership crashing down on him, there’s a Bill Bellicheck, who has got to win the award for least entertaining press conferences (unless you find one sentence answers in a monotone voice entertaining).

For all the statistics available out there on the internet, there is one statistic that I would love to get my hands on more than any other.  I wonder how much players, coaches, executives, and owners across all sports have been fined for certain postings on social media websites.  Whether it was venting about officials after a game through twitter or posting a comment on facebook about an ongoing labor dispute which is a violation, or any number of other possibilities.  The amount must be staggering considering the previously mentioned Mark Cuban has alone had over $1.5 million in fines levied against him.  At least this wealthy owner has taken the opportunity to turn negative publicity into a positive venture.  Mark Cuban matches the amount he’s fined and donates it to charity.

For all the talk about the new age we live in with social media, it seems people get so wrapped up in the world of it and forget its real impact.  I chose to merely focus on its impact in sports but imagine the much larger implications everywhere else.  In my honest opinion, I see nothing wrong with the use of social media as long as it’s in moderation.  I’m not only for allowing athletes the use of social media, but giving them more freedom with what they say.  More times than not, it’s the fans that are the ones that abuse this gift to sports.  When else could we have said we in some way were connected with an athlete?  Sure it may have only been a few words in the form of a tweet but before social media, not even that small of a connection would have existed.

As things stand right now, all that can really be said is, “to each their own”.  Let athletes express themselves as they wish.  Sure they’re role models and yes, to some extent they have to be held to a higher standard but they’re still human.  If it makes them feel any better, why not let an athlete express his real thoughts on a bad call?  Hey ownership, it’s still getting you publicity and probably going to sell a few more jerseys or tickets anyway, right?