Twitter and its Impact on the world of sports

A dorm room, a confession booth in a church, a quiet coffee shop. These are all places where people may converse quietly and with relative secrecy about anything they want. Twitter is NOT one of those places. Well, Duh, you may be thinking, but that seemingly obvious fact has escaped many an athlete during the Twitter boom that has enveloped and reshaped the sports world. Twitter is a generally positive medium, through which many athletes interact with fans on an unprecedented basis, (i.e  Brandon Phillips  ) and many others promote charities and other good causes with it as well. More than a few athletes pride themselves on their number of followers, and through this increased exposure, many have started to make waves in this newest form of social media. In a world where one big sports moment can catapult an athlete from relative obscurity to overnight stardom, there is increased danger for that star to “cross the line” with a comment or post.  Just recently, Pittsburg Steelers’ RB Rashard Mendenhall posted seemingly harmless self reflections on the 9/11 terrorist attacks after the death of Osama Bin Laden, and his remarks struck a sensitive note for many people throughout the sports world. Mendenhall’s sponsor, Champion Brand, quickly withdrew its endorsement deal on Mendenhall to escape being caught in the crossfire, and Mendenhall eventually apologized after receiving much criticism. The use of Twitter by many athletes has also triggered other sort of punitive or preventative actions by sports teams. Somewhat recently, Mississippi State university men's basketball coach  banned the use of Twitter by the team members, raising an ethical debate by itself. To what extend does the control of a team prohibit a player from using Twitter, even one who has no prior offenses to set a precedent with? Furthermore, NBA player Charlie Villanueva of the Milwaukee Bucks was punished by the team for Tweeting during the halftime break of a game. Questions of his athletic motivation aside, was this act so negative that it must be swiftly punished, like a kid caught stealing candy?

Twitter is a revolutionary form of social media for an athlete because it allows them to connect with fans on much more of a personal level, without them having to do much work. Followers flock to big profile athletes like Chad Ochocinco, Shaquille O’Neal and now, Hope Solo. With that much exposure to so many people, are these athletes to be held responsible for what they say on Twitter, even if it is just their opinion? Or should it be a censored media, at the discretion of the team? One thing is certain, as more and more people join Twitter, it is inevitable that they will flock to their favorite star, and will then be witness if that star uses a gay or racial slur in a post, or if they trash their team and express dismay over not being traded. As long as big profile athletes are using Twitter, every once in a while, one of them will say something they shouldn’t have, and so the revolving door of rash remarks and afterthought apologies will continue.