Athletes and Twitter

Most people with Twitter use it to connect with others. Some people use it to feel connected to people they probably will never be able to meet and connect with in person like actors, musician, or athletes. I myself follow some of my favorite athletes on Twitter. I like the feeling of "connecting" with them via reading their tweets about everyday life and having the option to personally tweet them with my thoughts and feelings. It is exciting to know they have the option of responding back to something you said to them. For many of us, this is the closest contact we will have with these people.

Twitter is great in that aspect. It allows athletes and teams to establish and build a relationship with their fans and further build the brand they have created for themselves and their respective teams. As a PR person working for a specific athlete or team, the freedom your clients have with Twitter (or any social media outlet for that matter) can be quite terrifying. What's stopping them from bashing a teammate or coach after a tough loss or tweeting something people find offensive or inappropriate? In most cases I think athletes are aware of what is and is not appropriate to put out on the Internet, but sometimes they slip up. There are a few cases where athletes have generated negative press or upset their teammates/coaches because of what they tweeted or put out on social media sites. Those few cases have caused PR people, franchise owners, and even coaches to be wary of letting their players have personal Twitter accounts.

As a future PR professional, I think if athletes want to have a social media presence to connect with their fan base there should be rules and guidelines set for them to follow regarding what they can say and when they can use their accounts. I think it is up to individual teams to determine what the rules should be for their players. Obviously coaches and teammates do not want to be talked about negatively in a public forum like Twitter and it would be very inappropriate for a player to be tweeting during a game or practice. It is essential as social media usage continues to rise for franchises to address players having personal accounts and develop a strategy in order for the team's presence, as well as individual player's presence, to be positive rather than destructive. 

The value in sports franchises and players developing a social media presence is great. Connecting with fans and building stronger relationships with them can benefit the players and teams greatly. However, if players do not use social media correctly it can cause big problems for the teams they represent. In order for players to use Twitter and other social media tools correctly they need to be educated on the “do's and don’ts” of social media and what the PR people and team owners deem appropriate usage. This is where the franchise and the PR people need to lay out the rules and regulations regarding Twitter and Facebook, etcetera before players even create accounts. I would personally suggest that players sign some sort of social media contract stating that they understand the guidelines that have been set and agree to follow them.  It is up to us as PR people to make sure the people we are representing are aware and understand the dangers of using social media incorrectly and know how to use it in order to establish and develop those long lasting relationships.