By CEDRIC COLLINGE
Student Reporter
Social media has granted athletes at young ages the ability to work on building their personal brand or image, but a big social media presence could lead to small mistakes that turn into even larger consequences.
Student-athletes everywhere have built a reputation for themselves not just through their sport of play, but all types of social media apps that give them that exposure to the people all over the world. Social media can make or break anybody, athletes especially, because athletes must uphold their team’s reputation.
With apps such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, college coaches and recruits have all the reason to be checking a recruit’s social media before dialing in on a student-athlete.
In an article Outspoken: Social Media and the Modern College Athlete it asks, “Can too much self-promotion be detrimental to college athletics and the team-focused nature of sports?” (Meg Penrose 2013). In public relations, they have a perfectly good answer for this; it depends.
Social media has proven itself when it comes to helping athletes get to the collegiate level because videos going viral of them making a highlight reel type of play or plays.
An online website has created a huge stir in the basketball, posting highlights, games and videos of middle school to college students-athletes playing. Thus, giving them even more exposure than they would have earned through their self-publicity.
BallisLife is a website where basketball players from around the country can earn the ultimate exposure to get not only self-promotion, but to highlight their talents to the world. They provide basketball coverage all over the country.
Professional basketball players who once featured on their page when they were younger can be located on the site, as well as rising stars. NBA players such as John Wall of the Washington Wizards or Austin Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers are two notable alums to the BallisLife Company.
Most recently, the infamous Ball brothers all had their fair share of highlight reels that led to their exposure.
Another household name in the basketball world is Zion Williamson who just recently committed to Duke University to play basketball.
Williamson, a walking highlight reel, had displayed his high-flying in-game dunks that still trend on social media as we speak.
All the players have had and still have a social media presence that makes them standout to coaches and even fans across the globe they may have.
“The athlete’s ego craves attention and exposure, not always recognizing that overexposure can cause damage to his or her psyche and his or her team.” (Meg Penrose 2013)
Pat Inkpen, Athletic Communication Assistant said that social media gives student-athletes to connect with their fans from all over and it helps them market themselves.
One could say that too much exposure is better than no exposure at all. There have been plenty of instances where athletes who have reach the peak of star status without the help of social media. To college coaches it is about how good these athletes are in their position and how they will represent themselves in front of the university.
There have been several instances where too much social media exposure led to a star athlete’s downfall. Student-Athletes do not need to rely on social media to land them a starting spot first year at a University, but realize that not all publicity is good publicity.
A YouTube channel post costs a five-star high school running back his scholarship at Old Dominion. Shedrick McCall, known for his funny posts on his YouTube channel spoke out about his actions while trespassing on private property. Not only did he trespass, but also while telling the story to his subscribers and other viewers, he used foul language repeatedly throughout the story.
McCall’s video went viral and it got to his coaches at his future school where they then took matters into their own hands and revoked McCall’s scholarship after seeing the video.
Recruiters and coaches look to see how their recruits are representing themselves on social media to ensure student-athletes are upholding a positive image for the university.
McCall made a mistake and everyone makes them, but his was a timely one that ruined a chance at College football stardom. Coaches, recruiters and scouts are watching even when student-athletes think they are in the clear. Word gets around quick, and words on social media get around a lot quicker.
“If you want to be a good recruiter in College Football, you have to be on social media,” Iowa State Director of Recruiting, John Kuceyeski said.
So what does it take to be a good social media user from the student-athlete perspective?
Student-athletes must be cautious what the put on any type of social media because anybody can see it at any time once you send it out to the World Wide Web. One way to double check whether a tweet or a post is legitimate to post is thinking about the consequences beforehand.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s , Assistant Director of Athletics for Athletic Communications, Jay Lee said he is not the biggest proponent of social media because it has major negatives, but can see the positive side for athletes.
“If it is used to build up athletes like we as a university do then yes,” Lee said. “When something happens off campus or a situation goes viral and sheds light on athletes in general in a negative way, then I think it is not a good thing.”
If the post has one consequence or is something somebody will find offensive, posting it is not worth the trouble.
Super bowl 52 Champion and Quarterback of Philadelphia Eagles, Nick Foles had a comment in his post-Super bowl interview that should stick with all athletes and fans.
“I think in our society today, Instagram, Twitter, it’s a highlight reel. It’s all the good things.” Foles said. “And then when you look at it, when you are like wow, when you have a rough day, ‘My life’s not as good as that’, (you think) you are failing.”
Foles is right. Student-Athletes may be relying too much on the best highlights or the maximum exposure to reach that desired star status, but that is not all it takes. It is more than having the best highlights on the internet.
According to Journal of Technology law and Policy: Being Social, 86 percent of people in the United States between ages of 18 and 29 are using social media becoming the single-most popular online activity for these ages. (Sarah Radwanick 2011)
Social media has been a dominant force in the sports culture in the U.S for several years and student-athletes, coaches, scouts and companies are using it to their advantage.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University Athletic Communication Assistant, Jay Barlett had a few tips for all student-athletes when it comes to wanting social media exposure.
“The internet is the best source of recruiting nowadays, but athletes should also not be afraid to send full game films and a mix of highlights as well,” Barlett said. “Sending full game films will show work ethic and mistakes that a future or current coach can adjust to improve their game.”
Barlett went on to explain that it was not so easy for him when he was getting recruited to play baseball, but full game films and highlights proved to help him generously.
Coaches and recruits do not limit their styles of recruiting just solely on social media, but reaching out to them through that type of medium is the best way. A student-athletes athleticism, sports skills, character and social media persona is what will make them successful in athletics.