Social Networking-The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

April 16, 2009

Since social networking on the internet has become commonplace, more and more student and professional athletes are finding that the content they post can reap rewards or sow consequences. And, lately there has been proof of the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good

Jarron Gilbert’s YouTube video, according to USAToday, apparently has the ability to raise his draft stock. The video of the 6’5”, 288 lb. defensive lineman must be a montage of some great football highlights right? No-it shows Gilbert leaping out of a swimming pool. This suggests that even the small things that make their way to the internet can make a big impact.

The Bad

Many NFL prospects are being faced with the news that there are ‘ghost profiles’ befriending them on social network sites like MySpace and Facebook. And, according to Yahoo Sports, apparently this widespread tactic has been occurring for some time now, and causing teams to take a closer look at potential draft picks. This year, Matthew Stafford of Georgia has a mark in his file because of a widely-distributed photo taken of him with a beer keg. In years past, the images and words found on social networking sites have ranged from a picture on an unnamed player’s page that showed drugs and drug money to a 2004 rap song released by University of Miami student-athletes calling themselves “the 7th Floor Crew” that is still following these men as we speak.

Josh Jarboe, a talented wide receiver, landed at the University of Oklahoma in 2008 after announcing his college choice at the Under Armour All-American game and subsequent signing with OU. However, shortly after arriving to campus in Norman, Oklahoma he was shown rapping on a video posted on YouTube using violent language and lyrics and was dismissed from the team August 2, 2008.

And Jarboe is not the only Big 12 football player to be dismissed from their team due to social networking faux-pas. In a story profiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Buck Burnett, a sophomore center for the University of Texas, was dismissed from his team after making racial slurs on his Facebook page on the evening of the presidential election this past November. And although Burnett admits his “terrible decision,” it did not come without the severe punishment – Burnett was released from the team.

Milwaukee Buck’s Forward Charlie Villanueva has fallen prey to the Twittersphere. On March 18th, he posted an innocuous enough statement from his Twitter account, “In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up." Which in and of itself might not have caused any waves at all, if the comment weren’t posted during halftime of the game. This resulted in quite an abundance of press about the incident and a serious tongue-lashing from coach Scott Skiles. It also prompted another NBA twitterer, @The_Real_Shaq-guess who-to send his own tweet out at halftime of a Suns game.

The Ugly

In early January 2009, Michael Phelps became the most recently publicized sports phenom to be caught in a compromising situation in a photograph. The photo and subsequent article was published in the United Kingdom by the News of the World. Apparently, the image was snapped at a party and later distributed to numerous media outlets and around the Internet. Phelps himself acknowledged his “bad judgment” for a mistake made at a party, but was still punished for his actions with a three month ban from USA swimming as a consequence.

The moral of this story is this, you can choose to use your publicity and notoriety for positive, career- and image-building things or you can be caught in a trap of being highlighted in a negative way. When it comes to the internet, your image is what you choose it to be and your choices can last a lifetime.