UT Athletes Advised to Use Caution Online

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Over 500 million people worldwide have a Facebook page.  Twitter has more than 100 million members, and both these numbers are dramatically growing each day.

Nearly every college student has a Facebook or Twitter, and they check them constantly.  Students at the University of Tampa forget their Blackboard and email login passwords all the time, but none of them ever have a problem logging onto Facebook.

Because of the large number of students that use Facebook, UT requires all student-athletes to sign a waiver stating that they are responsible for what is on their page, whether it is pictures, statuses or friends.UT Sports Information Director Tom Kolbe knows exactly what this waiver is and what it entails.

“We ask our student-athletes to remain professional in all social networking.Posts including photos, videos and comments using tobacco, drugs, offensive language and sexually explicit material are strictly outlawed,” Kolbe said.

“We also ask our athletes to use discretion in all of their posts and also avoid insulting comments towards opponents, teammates and coaches. An example I like to give is that if there is any doubt, do not post it.” Kolbe went on to speak about how he thinks social networking is changing sports.

“The media now cites Twitter posts, and I have embraced the ability to reach more people through these means. I feel that a proper understanding of social networking can lead to countless benefits for our program and student-athletes,” said Kolbe.
Junior Spartan baseball player Taylor Wrenn, a transfer student from the University of Southern California, is a firm believer in students taking responsibility for their actions on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

“At USC, a few kids got in trouble because of some pictures on their Facebooks. They were lucky they didn’t get thrown off the team,” Wrenn said. “Student athletes have to be responsible.  There are dumbasses everywhere you go. Just put it private and don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know and you’ll be fine.”

Wrenn also alluded to what social networking does to high profile pro athletes.

“Eventually it comes back to the individual.  Professional athletes like Lebron James tweet ridiculous things.  Their grammar makes them seem uneducated.  Some people see Randy Moss as a great athlete, [but] I see him as an idiot because of the way he writes on Twitter,” Wrenn stated.

Senior Sports Management major Nick Twing had some strong feelings on social networking in sports as well.

“Look at what just happened with David Price and Evan Longoria tweeting about how ridiculous and disgraceful it is to have 12,000 fans at a home game that could clinch a playoff berth,” said Twing. “Before you know it, the Rays are giving away 20,000 free tickets to the next home game.” Twing went on to speak about social networking in sports from a UT standpoint.

“You just have to be careful to not look stupid and watch out who you hangout with.  Also, you definitely don’t want to release any information to other teams about some kind of injury or something,” he said.

Senior volleyball player Melissa Vanderhall loves Twitter, but knows not to put anything stupid up. Rather, she puts social networking sites to good use.

“Twitter is great; it’s a good way to post stats.  My mom checks it out all the time, so she has constant updates all the way from New York,” Vanderhall said. “Facebook groups are a great way for us to get people to come to our games.”
Vanderhall said that she agrees with the social networking waiver that UT student athletes are asked to sign.

“We should absolutely have to sign a waiver because anyone who puts something disrespectful up on their Facebook page needs to learn some responsibility,” Vanderhall stated.

Social networking is here to stay and will continue to grow as the years pass on.

“My belief is that social networking is not going away, thus making it necessary to address the concept. I had not witnessed or had any reason for suspicion with posts from previous years, but feel that it is important to explain the pros and cons of social networking to our student-athletes,” Kolbe said.

“I feel that they were very receptive as our number one interest is to protect the name of our student-athletes and university. I am glad that I was able to implement policies for the sole reason of educating our student-athletes, hopefully avoiding embarrassing incidents in the future” said Kolbe.

Social networking isn’t going anywhere, and it is vital that the student athletes respect the University and themselves, and be careful with what they post to their accounts.

John Hilsenroth can be reached at jhilsenroth@spartans.ut.edu.