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| Credit to Morpurgo |
There are plenty of examples of athletes getting into trouble on social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. Most of the time, an artificial, insincere apology follows. Then, the story fades away into the bellows of the past within the next couple of days. As more athletes get into trouble over what they say, more coaches and agents are banning their players from Twitter or filtering what they post.
Athletes have said stupid things on Twitter since it first became popular, and they will continue to say such things on Twitter until it fades away (if it ever does). A lot of the time, they do not realize that seconds after they post something on Twitter, thousands of fans can see it and it could be damaging to their reputation or image.
Stupid or insulting things posted on Twitter rarely damage a professional athlete’s image permanently. When an athlete posts something offensive on a social media site, all they have to do is say “Sorry” with an explanation afterward which mostly consist of something like “I wasn’t thinking” or “I realize now that what I said could have been offensive”. After that happens, most of the time the story is over and everyone is forgiven.
With all the players who have gotten fined for what they tweet, there has only been one well-known instance of someone losing their job. That person is Larry Johnson, former Pro-Bowl running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. After lashing out at one of his coaches and insulting one of his fans with a gay slur, he was released from the team after 32,000 fans signed a petition asking the Chiefs to fire him. No amount of apologies could have gotten him out of that situation.
Social media rarely has a permanent, negative effect on an athlete’s image. If anything, it draws more publicity to them and makes them have even more followers because everyone wants to see their post.
Athletes have said stupid things on Twitter since it first became popular, and they will continue to say such things on Twitter until it fades away (if it ever does). A lot of the time, they do not realize that seconds after they post something on Twitter, thousands of fans can see it and it could be damaging to their reputation or image.
Stupid or insulting things posted on Twitter rarely damage a professional athlete’s image permanently. When an athlete posts something offensive on a social media site, all they have to do is say “Sorry” with an explanation afterward which mostly consist of something like “I wasn’t thinking” or “I realize now that what I said could have been offensive”. After that happens, most of the time the story is over and everyone is forgiven.
With all the players who have gotten fined for what they tweet, there has only been one well-known instance of someone losing their job. That person is Larry Johnson, former Pro-Bowl running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. After lashing out at one of his coaches and insulting one of his fans with a gay slur, he was released from the team after 32,000 fans signed a petition asking the Chiefs to fire him. No amount of apologies could have gotten him out of that situation.
Social media rarely has a permanent, negative effect on an athlete’s image. If anything, it draws more publicity to them and makes them have even more followers because everyone wants to see their post.
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