Monday, January 16, 2012

Social media, the new curse


By Michael Oriedo
I know we lost but it is the beginning of a new game." Dennis Oliech.
"Seychelles vs Kenya is the first game of Brazil 2014 World Cup qualification. Our journey starts." McDonald Mariga
"This is my worst Christmas ever. I can’t wait to see this horrible game, in this horrible city, with some of the most horrible, coaches is over." Annonymous American football player
These are some of the messages that athletes write on their social media pages as they reach out to their fans.
While some of the sportsmen use their Twitter and Facebook pages to encourage fans and develop sports, for others, social sites have become platforms to ventilate their anger and attack fellow players and coaches.
Inane comments
Many of them are now getting in lots of trouble with their clubs because of inane comments they write on social sites as social media joins a long list of items, including beer, that teams are banning athletes from using.
In August last year, former Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri got into trouble with the club for allegedly writing disparaging remarks on Facebook about his possible departure from the ‘Gunners’.
According to UK Independent, Nasri, who now plays for Manchester City, is reported to have written on his Facebook page that he would soon leave Arsenal with "anger and great bitterness".
"I don’t have a Facebook page, so I never would have said I was leaving with bitterness. The message was phoney," he defended himself as the club pinned him.
Arsenal, says UK Independent, was certain that the account belonged to the player and had requested an explanation.
Later, the player attacked Arsenal fans on his Twitter page for being disrespectful as he readied to decamp.
"I heard what the fans were singing about me. It is really disrespectful because I’m still an Arsenal player," he wrote after fans criticised him for ditching the club.
Embarrased
On the other hand, some athletes have embarrassed themselves, their coaches and teams with what they write on social sites.
"This game is a walkover. We will give our coach a 4-0 birthday present," writes an athlete only for the team to lose horribly in their home ground.
"Fans, be ready for the greatest surprise. We may just come into the field in our new outfits," writes another athlete only for the team to appear in their usual uniform.
To curb such ignominy, coaches are responding by banning players from using social media.
Banned
US basketball coach Steve Alford last July banned his players from using Twitter and forced all those with accounts on the site to close them.
"As far as consequences for indiscretions, any violation would warrant disciplinary action, a third violation would warrant revoking athletes’ scholarship, suspending them, or removing them from the team," reported mwcconnection.com, a sports site.
The coach, supposedly, took action after seeing the social site "was a distraction, a portal for trouble that accentuated the individual over the team."
Initially, the coach had suspended, for two games, a player who had criticised his coaching skills on Twitter.
The same fate befell players of Buckeyes, an American football team last November after a new coach took over the club, reports USA Today.
"New staff, new rules. No more Twitter, not a big deal and probably for the better. Love our fans, love this place," wrote the coach ironically on his Twitter page.
While some sports analysts believe banning players, especially the young ones, from social media prevents them from fooling around, other say coaches should allow players to use social sites to connect with the world.
"You don’t cut them off. You do it by helping them learn to succeed in it. Social media is a new but very powerful tool in interacting with the world," writes Fox Sports writer Bill Reiter.

No comments:

Post a Comment