#MSBLFriday411- #PauseB4YouPost

Facebook Established 2004

Twitter & LinkedIn Established 2006

Instagram Established 2010

Social Media (like it or not) is here to stay for the foreseeable future. While it does provide all of us (including myself with this blog post) the opportunity to push our viewpoints and opinions out into the world…with that power comes a lot of responsibility, power and needed education.

To make these claims a little more concrete, here are some numbers from a Career Builder Survey in 2018:

• 70% of Employers use social networking sites to research job candidates

• 57% of Employers who have found content that caused them NOT to hire a candidate

While this may be a little eye-opening…before you race out and decide to delete your social media profile, remember that in that same survey, 47% of employers said that if they can’t find a job candidate online then they are less likely to call that person in for an interview. I would suspect that this number is even higher in the sports industry as (given the nation-wide aspect of most jobs) connecting with industry peers is more likely to happen online first. I have multiple people who, I consider professional friends/colleagues, I met FIRST online then connected with in real life, while there are still some I have never physically met in person.

The message of making sure you have your social media either “locked down” or cleaned up when looking for a job has been drilled into most of our heads; no one is saying that you cannot be your authentic self on social media. In that same Career Builder survey, employers want to see that you are a “real person” too when they look at your social media footprint and are less likely to advance someone in the hiring process if they don’t get a sense of that personality; however, there are lines you should never cross and be aware of what you are posting. While this is all excellent advice for athletic administration professionals (college or professional), professional players, these last six months has made it even more important for college athletes as the NCAA moves forward with N.I.L. legislation and opens the door to athletes in college athletics receiving money from their social media brand presence.

We have seen questionable posts in college sports often enough to think that people should be aware of this and realize the effect that their actions could have on themselves or their teammates. The most notable situation happened after immediately after the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game when newly-crowned champion Villanova player Donte DiVincenzo was asked about inappropriate tweets from an account linked to him from 2011 (when he was 14 years old.) The account itself hadn’t been active since 2016, and DiVincenzo initially denied (and Villanova echoed) that he did not send those tweets, something later recanted. An action that DiVincenzo took before he had even contemplated playing for Villanova has now changed the storyline and narrative for what should have been the best night of his life. It was something utterly avoidable through coaching.

Sadly, more are learning this same lesson:

Not too far down the road, Oregon State Freshman TE Rocco Carley was kicked off the team when Head Football Coach Jonathan Smith became aware of a highly inappropriate audio recording of Carley using inappropriate language towards minorities when he was in high school. Carley later released a statement via his personal Twitter ( the account is now deleted) saying that the recording was done mainly to make a joke but recognized his actions were wrong. The swift and decisive action by Smith should be and was applauded, and a great example of a head coach sending a clear message to his team as to what is/is not acceptable behavior period and the consequences that come with it.

However, in what I believe is a first for a college athletic program:

New U.S.C. Athletic Director Mike Bohn was made aware of tweets from U.S.C. Booster Marla Brown advocating in multiple tweets for demonstrators (in general) to be shot. Brown later spoke with Ryan Kartje of the L.A. Times and admitted that her statements had been “very stupid” and said in anger but did not push back against U.S.C. much for their decision as she said, “I don’t have much control over it.”

These events, and especially with everything happening in our world, it is crucial to have people understand that their words DO matter and not just within the sphere of being an athlete or working in athletics but even the people in the stands as well. The consumer of your social media doesn’t know if something was said to be funny, or if you were 14, or if said in a fit of anger so you truly must #PauseB4youpost to ensure what you are putting out there is what you want reflective of you.

Social media education and training is now more critical than ever in our society today and need to be part of a student’s path through the K-12 system, college, and even in professional development once in the workforce. These tools burst onto the scene with such power and authority that it has been only within the last five years (I would say) we truly have been able to maximize it’s (social media’s) impact in the business world. Unfortunately, what has been left behind is the understanding of the effect this has on the people behind the screen names and is something we can’t continue to ignore or forget. Let us try to make sure everyone is able to get the best out of social media and help each of us succeed to become the best versions of ourselves.