Professional sports teams, namely those in the National Basketball Association, have taken divergent approaches to the use of Twitter & social media in general.
At least one club – the Milwaukee Bucks – decided to ban Twitter from the locker room.
Bucks forward Charlie Villaneuva, as many in the Twittersphere already know, was reprimanded by his coach and notorious taskmaster Scott Skiles for a tweet he sent during halftime of a game last week against the Boston Celtics.
Villanueva, who uses the name CV31 – his initials and jersey number – wrote: ‘In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We’re playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up.’
Conversely, the Phoenix Suns have turned a blind eye to Shaquille O’Neal’s use of Twitter.
"As long as he gets 25 (points) and 11 (rebounds), he can do whatever he wants. He can Twitter, Facebook, MySpace," Gentry told reporters after the game. Gentry’s daughter, apparently, set up a Twitter account for him.
O’Neal, who goes by the name @THE_REAL_SHAQ, also made his intentions clear before the game.
The halftime tweet from Shaq on Saturday against the Washington Wizards was done in part to show up Villaneuva as he’s one of the few other NBAers to use Twitter regularly.
"Attention all twitterers I’m a tweet at halftime and not get fined like vill a new wave a whteva his name is," Shaq wrote before the weekend game.
The NBA, & pro sports teams in general, haven’t had to implement social media policies, as few pro athletes use social networks regularly.
Charlie V, as he’s more commonly known in basketball circles, and Shaq are still exceptions even in a league where cell phones are de rigeur. Twitter usage, for example, is still dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
This may change in the near future. The NBA’s head office last month opened a Twitter account so expect the league to examine, if not, embrace social networks further.
In the meantime, clubs should let players use the tools, applying common sense rules. It is free marketing for the player, the club and the league. It’s a great way to further extend and build the league’s brand.
In other words, the instincts of Charlie V and the Suns are right. Players should be allowed to tweet as they see fit as long as they’re representing the club in the same way they would when dealing with traditional media. It is no different than a TV interview, which players are encouraged to do, before and even at halftime of games.
As long as the tweets don’t detract from the player’s attention from the game, his performance or the image of the club, it should be viewed as an outreach effort on the part of the club, not an infantile distraction.
6 Comments on “The Use of Social Media By Pro Athletes”
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Nice coverage of the half-time tweet incident. I’m with you, I can understand why a coach would be upset. No different than sneaking away to call someone or play a round Xbox between periods. That’s a no no. Check out my deck that I posted to Slideshare about Social Media In Sports: The Athlete.
http://bit.ly/Vxnum
Cheers.
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 2:28 am.
Hi Paul,
Thanks very much for your comment and feedback.
I think we’re actually of different opinions on the topic.
I’m firmly of the opinion pro athletes SHOULD be allowed to tweet during halftime or during their spare time.
Clubs allow players to be interviewed at halftime. Why shouldn’t players be allowed to use Twitter (within certain boundaries of course)?
It’s no more of a distraction than subjecting a star athlete to a TV reporter’s inane questions at halftime.
However, the TV interview is currently considered kosher by teams while the use of Twitter, even for 20 seconds, is considered taboo.
Most pro sports teams have yet to discover the utility of social media. Once the benefits are fully realized, teams will in fact mandate its use but in a more controlled fashion.
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 2:39 am.
It seems to be a matter of the elders not understanding what the heck the players are up to. They don’t get it and so they automatically don’t like it.
The fact that the guy’s daughter set up his twitter handle says it all. I agree that it’s like a half time interview – totally allowed.
I thought cell phones were banned in locker rooms anyway because of the camera functionality…
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 2:54 am.
Kevin, as per our Twitter conversation, I agree that it may be okay as long as it doesn’t distract the players and they keep up their performance.
At the same time, I question what this really adds to the game. Should everybody use Twitter everywhere, just because we can? To me, the entertainment still comes from seeing amazing athletes put up their best efforts on the court. It’s one thing to see Chris Bosh on his YouTube channel. It is pretty funny. But I don’t need him to talk to me during the intermission of the game. As a fan, during the game I’d prefer athletes to focus on helping the team win, not on winning the hearts and minds of Twitter fans everywhere.
To put it into perspective, I could do without the half-time tv interviews of players too, because rarely – if ever – do they say something beyond the obvious. Before and after the game, okay – even if they still usually don’t say anything profound.
Finally, while I am sure many would find it cool, I also think it adds another layer of unnecessary drama. I am more a (European) football fan than a basketball fan. So here is a football example. Wayne Rooney from Manchester United got red-carded and sent off near the end of the match on the weekend. Clearly he was furious with the decision. Would we really need him to go to the locker room, take out his mobile and put his opinion of the referee on Twitter? With television interviews, at least there is usually somebody around to keep them away from journalists until they’ve calmed down. Do we now need a mobile phone handler for athletes who collects the devices to make sure that they don’t tweet anything stupid while they are upset?
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 1:27 pm.
Check out this new private social network built for professional athletes. I wish I could get in there and check out what's going on behind closed doors.
Posted on April 30, 2009 at 2:00 am.
In-Game Tweets: A Player Distraction or Fan Entertainment? at Kevin Restivo’s Tech Blog says:
[...] became an issue in the NBA when ex-Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva tweeted during halftime of a game in March against the Boston Celtics. He was reprimanded by coach Scott Skiles. Villanueva promised not to do [...]
Posted on July 31, 2009 at 4:48 am.