Robbie Litchfield Final Paper

Robbie Litchfield

Digital Media

Dr. Rob Williams

Midpoint Check

3/5/14

#UhOh: Professional Athletes on Twitter

Social media are a new force in marketing and are already being adopted by the sports industry, with teams, leagues, coaches, managers and players establishing presences. With social media, there are no middlemen filtering the content produced by users, which leads to a whole new level of both pragmatism and danger. Social media have revolutionized the interaction between professional athletes and their fans, making it incredibly fast and efficient to reach out to almost anyone. Although most athletes abide by the rules of etiquette on social media, there are still many cases of athletes abusing this unprecedented power to make bold statements, cases such as that of Mark Cuban, Rashard Mendenhall, Larry Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, and many more. However, with proper guidance and education there may be hope for athletes to critically reduce the number of bad tweets. Overall, it appears that modern American social media yields great, uncensored power that has shown to be much more beneficial than harmful.

A variety of popular social media that has emerged recently

“Web 2.0,” otherwise known as “social media,” has drastically changed the way we as humans interact with one another. Not only can we communicate with our friends and family through the power of the Internet, but we can also contact our favorite celebrities through a pure, unmediated method. The benefits of this new technology are limitless in regards to transferring information, but there are certainly risks involved when used incorrectly. One specific group, professional American athletes, have embraced social media with open arms and have shown in recent years to have genuinely integrated them into their culture. Although there are many popular social mediums (such as Facebook, Reddit, or Instagram) perhaps the most practical to these athletes is the largest, microblogging website in the world: Twitter. Twitter was founded by New York University undergraduate Jack Dorsey, “who wanted to use his cellphone to send text messages to a service and have the message distributed to all his friends” (Bellis). It was officially launched in July of 2006, but didn’t experience rapid growth until 2008, where the number of tweets per day increased from 50,000 (2007) to 300,000 (Beaumont). Today, nearly 50 million posts are tweeted every day.

The benefits of Twitter and other forms of social media are limitless. When used properly, players can reach out further to fans than any other time in history. Improving the fan relationship with the players also improves the relationship with the respective team and league, which holds enormous marketing potential. In her research project at Laurentian University (Ontario, Canada), Ann Pegoraro found that most athletes have yet to realize this huge endorsement opportunity, “Although Twitter is offering fans unprecedented access to athletes, its potential as a marketing tool is not being realized by athletes. Most athletes are not tweeting about their products, providing links to their Web sites, or referencing brands that they use...As the power of Twitter grows, this could be a potential new area for product-endorsement revenue for athletes” (Pegoraro).

However, with this great power comes great responsibility. Athletes now have the uncensored ability to say whatever they want on Twitter, which can lead to some terrible mistakes. It doesn’t matter that you made one bad tweet out of a thousand good ones; the bad tweet is what people are going to magnify. Because social media are so new, there are practically no set rules of etiquette to stop people from saying something potentially offensive. Although they have made significant strides in making a “report abuse” option available, there is still no immediate filter to stop abhorrent content from leaking out. By the time someone deletes a post they’ve decided was a mistake, someone else could have saved the post and shared it with the rest of the world, thus eliminating any hope for permanent deletion. Therefore, it is left up to the user’s better judgement to decide what to tweet.

One monumental social media blunder in recent years came from running back Rashard Mendenhall of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who tweeted after Osama Bin Laden was assassinated in 2011, “What kind of person celebrates death?” (Holmes). Mendenhall continued to rant about the controversial 9/11 attacks. When he finally understood how offensive his comments were, he deleted his tweets and tried to explain himself, but one of his main endorsers, Chhttp://www.championusa.com/ampion sports apparel, had already dropped him as a client. In 2009, Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs tweeted about the incompetence of coach, Todd Haley, after a loss to the San Diego Chargers (Grove). Fans saw the opportunity to heckle Johnson, who reacted with profanity and homophobic remarks. His Twitter rant got him suspended from the team and eventually fired.

Mark Cuban known for screaming a referees

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is certainly not shy when it comes to social media. Cuban has been fined twenty different times by the NBA since he bought the team back in 2000, adding to a sum of $1.9 million (MacMahon). This is pocket change to Cuban, however, who has a net worth of approximately $2.5 billion. Cuban’s outbursts on and off social media over the years have generally criticized the controversial officiating in the NBA. One tweet reads, “I’m sorry NBA fans. I’ve tried for 13 yrs to fix the officiating in this league and I have failed miserably. Any suggestions? I need help” (Crum). The penalty for the tweet was $50,000, but his long history of accepting fines with pleasure has angered some fans on Twitter. One Twitter user by the username “SerJ” tweeted Cuban, “@mcuban instead of posting that tweet, you could have just gave me 25 grand for a new house! #Fined #DavidStern” (Crum).

Rodriguez is slowly revealing the truth

Perhaps one of the biggest cases of all is represented by Alex Rodriguez, third baseman of the New York Yankees and richest man in all of professional sports. In March of 2013, an investigation held by MLB found out that the Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic in Miami, Florida had records of MLB players who were provided with performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), including Rodriguez. After the verdict was reached, the list of players were suspended for a total of 50 games (with the exception of outfielder Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, who received 65 games), the remainder of the 2013 regular season. Rodriguez, who has a had a history with PEDs dating back to his time with the Texas Rangers (2001-2003), was suspended by MLB through the 2014 season (211 games). Unlike the other twelve players listed, Rodriguez chose to appeal the suspension and was allowed to continue playing in 2013, pending his appeal. This stirred up much controversy on social media, as outraged fans across the world expressed their opinions on Rodriguez playing during his trial. Later, in January of 2014, the verdict came out that Rodriguez would be banned through the 2014 season, a significantly smaller suspension than MLB’s proposed life-long ban.

Despite so many people trying to break him, Rodriguez keeps on fighting

Rodriguez may not have directly created abuse of social media, but instead took a passive aggressive route to build himself up in front of the media. To make sure he didn’t say anything offensive or controversial, Rodriguez hired a large panel of PR representatives and lawyers to help counsel and filter his messages. Although his plan may have worked for what he intended to do, the tactic was not as subtle as he may have hoped. From his initial prosecution in 2013 through today, Rodriguez has suffered the scrutiny of sportswriters and angered fans across the globe who see through the “nice guy” facade he puts on so well. Sportswriter Chris Russell tweeted, “@AROD may have the worst PR people ever. Press conferences where you basically plead the 5th aren’t worth having. Embarrassing. #MLB” (Wilson). Sportswriter Zachary Rymer wrote, “it's easy to speculate that A-Rod joined because he'd heard all about professional athletes becoming fan favorites on Twitter, and he figured it was worth a shot. But professional athletes also get themselves in trouble on Twitter. Frequently, in fact, even when they're not trying to. A-Rod being A-Rod, it's no wonder his presence set off alarm bells. Everyone could see trouble on the horizon. Everyone except A-Rod, that is”

Sportswriter David Roth offers a different opinion on Rodriguez. Roth glorifies Rodriguez as one of the greatest baseball players that ever lived, whose great talent never seemed to cease through the test of time. Because of his “alien,” “superhuman” ability to play the game, Roth believes that Rodriguez believes he is immune to the rules of the common man, “When that belief manifests through breaking some good and reasonable rules, that's clearly a bad thing. And yet it's easy to see how Rodriguez might have come to believe that he is unlimited and ungovernable and outside and above regular rules. His whole life has been triumphant proof of it. This is not an excuse, but is maybe the beginning of an explanation . . . Who else, when facing a potential suspension-for-life, could maunder as grandly about being a role model and so clearly mean it?” Perhaps Roth’s conclusion of Rodriguez holds some truth.

Rodriguez is not like the rest of us mortals

On January 11, Rodriguez posted on Facebook in response to his suspension through 2014, “The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one. This is one man’s decision, that was not put before a fair and impartial jury, does not involve me having failed a single drug test...No player should have to go through what I have been dealing with, and I am exhausting all options to ensure not only that I get justice . . . [but that] the MLB investigation and arbitration process cannot be used against others in the future the way it is currently being used to unjustly punish me.” In regards to social media, Rodriguez has created a storm of arguments among his 160 thousand followers on Twitter, 1.2 million followers on Facebook, and more. The issue has drawn much negativity to not only himself, but to the Yankees organization and to MLB. Baseball is stereotypically associated with PEDs more than any other sport, and the drug testing system is the laughing stock of the sports world. A system with some many flaws and loopholes allows athletes like Rodriguez to slither through without testing positive. By fighting this battle with MLB, Rodriguez has further jeopardized the reputation of the league and of the sport, thereby creating one of the worst infractions in social media by an athlete.

Manziel's infamous twitter pic

Athletes making mistakes is not limited to just the professional level; even college athletes are using and abusing the Twitterverse. One example comes from third-string quarterback Cardale Jones from Ohio State University, who tweeted, “Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS” (Grasgreen). The short-lived message got Jones’ Twitter account terminated and he was suspended for a game. Texas A&M quarterback Johnny  Manziel got into a heated argument with two sportswriters back in July of 2013 who criticized his season. After one fan tweeted that Manziel “had a lucky year” and wouldn’t “do shit” the following season, Manziel replied with a picture of his Heisman Trophy pointed directly at the viewer. According to Grasgreen, 93% of collegiate athletes use some form of social media regularly. According to a survey by the College Sports Information Directors, over half of colleges in the United States educate their student athletes on proper social media use. Yet, there still seems to be an awful lot mistakes being made by collegiate athletes like Manziel and Jones.

UDiligence sees everything

Some businesses have sprung up to help solve the issue of careless posting. One website in particular, UDiligence, charges schools across the United States $7,500 a year for monitoring software that tracks their student athletes’ Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube accounts to make sure no careless, crude posts reach the web (McKnight). UDiligence does not have access to the athletes’ accounts but has a monitoring system that alerts the athletic director if an inappropriate word choice is used. Kevin Long, founder of UDiligence, takes pride in the many reputations his service has saved since it’s creation in 2009, “We're not a roomful of people hovering over our monitors scouring Facebook. We provide our technology to the athletic departments so they can monitor what their athletes are doing” (McKnight). No professional teams have taken this possible solution into consideration, but some scouts have used it to monitor potential draft picks. A software service like UDiligence could be a very helpful and cost-efficient method in reducing some of these mistakes, mistakes that would otherwise cost colleges and professional sports teams a lot more in PR aid.

Hurtful tweets burned in Tholes mind

The source of the abuse does not always necessarily come from the athlete. In fact, a considerable amount comes from frustrated fans. Josh Thole, a catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, quit Twitter back in 2011 when he was a member of the struggling New York Mets, "It was just constant negativity. As a team we weren't playing well. Personally, I wasn't playing well. So it was becoming a grind. Every time you opened your phone up, you had all these Twitter notifications, and it was, 'You stink,' 'You suck,' 'You should jump off the bridge.' I don't need that” (Brady). Why read those posts? Why let people bring you down? Thole argues, “You're always going to see it. For guys to say, 'I don't read it,' well, you're going to read it, because if you're scrolling through, that's what pops up” (Brady).

How far is too far? According to Eugene Volokh, professor of free speech at UCLA School of Law, the fans have every right to express their displeasure on Twitter. "If someone says, 'I hope you get sick and die,' that is offensive but that is protected by the First Amendment, unless the subtext is, 'I am the one who can make you sick and causes you to die’” (Brady). Craig Kanalley, social media manager of the Buffalo Sabres, believes that pros of having a Twitter account far outweigh the negativity, "I don't know if deleting your account is a good solution. In some ways, it could make things worse, in my opinion. That's what some of these fans, or whatever you want to call them, that's what they want . . . a reaction. A lot of them, that's all they're trying to do” (Brady). Unlike Thole, Sean Doolittle of the Oakland Athletics dealt with his threats differently. After struggling in June of 2012, Doolittle received numerous threats via Twitter from gamblers and frustrated fans. The right-handed pitcher ignored the comments and continued to be himself on Twitter, reaching out to the true fans who still supported him, "I like to use it as an outlet for fans to see a different side of me” (Brady).

Doolittle has a point. There are always going to be people booing you, whether its in the stands or on the Twitterverse. All you can do is be yourself and continue to look out for those who truly support you. As demonstrated by Manziel and Johnson, getting into heated arguments with fans can lead to trouble. Sports attorney and agent Ralph Cindrich offers some advice, "As soon as it's recognized that you've crossed a line, you retract." (Holmes) Cindrich also advises his clients to a) not drink and tweet; b) ask team leaders if you're not certain; and c) "tweet only what you know." (Holmes) Kathleen Hessert, a social-media consultant who helped launch Shaquille O'Neal's Twitter account, recommends a tweeting balance — one-third each about your sport, yourself (including promoting your sponsors) and issues you care about. These small tips can help reduce the risk of making a mistake on social media.

Overall, it seems that Twitter is something that we cannot live without, for the positive aspects it brings to the table has revolutionized fan interaction. Like all new technology, social media is going to have its flaws and bugs that need fixing. With the help of monitoring companies like UDiligence, social media education for collegiate and professional athletes, and mindful posting, the risk of making harmful posts is greatly reduced. Perhaps one day, athletes will discover the marketing potential of social media and begin to endorse their sponsors and products rather than rant in anger on a documented public medium.

Sources

Beaumont, Claudine. "Twitter Users Send 50 Million Tweets per Day." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 13 Sept. 0023. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

Bellis, Mary. "What Is Twitter and Who Invented It?" About.com Inventors. About.com, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

Brady, Erik, and Jorge L. Ortiz Sports. "For Athletes, Social Media Not All Fun and Games." USA Today. Gannett, 31 July 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

Crum, Amanda. "Mark Cuban Fined Over Twitter Rant At Refs." WebProNews. N.p., 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Grasgreen, Allie. "Instead of Telling Athletes Not to Tweet, Colgate Shows How Social Media Can Work for Them | Inside Higher Ed." Instead of Telling Athletes Not to Tweet, Colgate Shows How Social Media Can Work for Them | Inside Higher Ed. N.p., 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

Grove, Jennifer V. "Mashable." Mashable. N.p., 26 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

MacMahon, Tim. "Mark Cuban Fined before Stern's exit." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 19 Jan. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Manning, Laura. "12 Worst Social Media Mistakes of 2012 (And How to Avoid Them)."Search Influence. N.p., 9 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

McKnight, Michael. "Twitter Provides a Voice." SI.com. N.p., 20 Sept. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

Pegoraro, Ann. "Look Who’s Talking—Athletes on Twitter: A Case Study." (2010): n. pag. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.

Roth, David. "Alex Rodriguez, Performance Artist." SBNation.com. N.p., 31 July 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Rymer, Zachary. "New York Yankees." Bleacher Report. N.p., 25 June 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Wilson, Matt. "Alex Rodriguez Press Conference Was Bad PR-for PR." PR Daily News: Public Relations News and Marketing in the Age of Social Media. N.p., 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

Also available on my website:

\\vfs2.mikenet.smcvt.edu\home2$\Student\rlitchfield\Unnamed Site 2\index.html