Business or Individual Priorities in Social Media Policies

     Not too long ago I mentioned the story of Spencer Hadley, a BYU linebacker who faced official discipline for violating his school’s honor code. He was caught because a few pictures snapped by friends had reached the school within a few hours. He, like many other athletes learned that even what you do in your “private life,” is not necessarily private any more-  This is largely because constant blurring of the line between public and private behavior. While punishment for actions in an employee’s (including athlete’s) private life have long been debated, few can deny one fact; it is getting harder and harder to tell the difference between public life and private life. Social media has been one of the most influential factors in this blurring trend. Some argue that no organization should be able to limit the “voices” of its players. They 
say it is a violation of first amendment rights. Others argue that it is well within the right of the employer to monitor and even stifle the social media choices of its players. One argued that the monitoring and censoring of players’ social media messages is comparable to the monitoring of internet usage by corporate organizations, many of which have lost lawsuits over the issue.

     The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS have all adopted social media policies to put at least some restrictions on players’ social media use. Most of these focus on when players can use social media more than what they can say. A simple Google search of college sport social media policies will turn up many results from schools across the nation. Many of these policies, like USC’s, focus more on teaching the athlete and protecting him or her from future embarrassment or damage.

      Some assume that a lot of the problems with athletes and social media stem from the near celebrity status of many pro and college players. It is clear, however, that even at the high school level (and younger), appropriate social media use is a problem. In fact, it may be even more of a problem as high school age athletes are generally even more lacking in maturity, experience and long-term mindedness than college and professional athletes are. Some coaches have banned sites like twitter completely because of all the problems they have caused for their teams and players. It seems that the focus of social media policies shifts in focus from protecting business interests to protecting individuals as you move from the highest levels of sport to the lowest. So those who draft social media policies need to be aware of the level for which they are writing their policies.