The Campanile
SPORTS
Social media enables athletes to broadcast opinions
June 3, 2011• A9
Trigger Happy
Twitter helps express personal beliefs, makes social activism possible By Michael Augustine Sports Editor
While high-level sports have always had a heavy influence on society, the power that individual athletes have is rapidly increasing. Athletes of today are able to get their ideas out to the masses through technology. Many people listen to athletes because sports are a large part of society. However, many of the ideas expressed by athletes are unrelated to their sports. These ideas are broadcasted through technology such as social media and online videos. In the short time that social media has been a prominent aspect of society, it has made a large impact. Not only has it started revolutions, increased communication capabilities and allowed high school students to spy on their peers’ prom photos, but it has also given everyone the chance to voice their opinions. Athletes constantly receive attention. Traditionally, this attention has been focused on their on-field performances interspersed with the occasional off-field incident involving the police. In the era of social media, the scope of promotion– five percent of their tweets were attention that athletes receive is drastically of this nature, according to IJSC. widening. Athletes are constantly featured The varied reasons why athletes tweet in the news for controversial comments they shows that they want to voice different have made through social media. opinions to a large crowd that always listens. Twitter is one device athletes use which Athletes cherish the power of technology, specauses controversy but also promotes popu- cifically social media. For example, 28 percent larity. of the surveyed tweets addressed off-field An athlete with a large group “following” topics. These off-field tweets range from an him or her on athlete’s favorite Twitter can infood to his or stantly inform “In terms of sports, social media has not her opinion on people of his or made players into distractions for their current events. her ideas. Athletes teams, but instead, it has allowed playAthletes have repeateduse Twitter for ers who are already distractions to their ly posted ideas, many reasons. teams reach a wider audience.” beliefs or emoThe Internations that they tional Journal have regretted of Sport ComconAaron Zelinger posting munication’s cerning both junior on and off-field (IJSC) report categorized topics. 1,962 tweets “A controfrom professional athletes into six general versial comment will always be brought into themes: interactivity, diversion, information the spotlight by the media, and most of the sharing, content, promotional and fanship. time this spotlight is unwanted,” junior John The report indicated that 34 percent of Dickerson said. “Negative unwanted media the sample tweets interacted with followers, attention is a bad distraction for athletes, and 28 percent of posts were diversion tweets that using things like Twitter and Facebook help were unrelated to sports and 15 percent of bring bad attention to teams.” tweets discussed an athlete’s specific team. For example, on May 2, after the death of Professional athletes put less emphasis on Osama bin Laden, Pittsburgh Steelers running
back Rashard Mendenhall used Twitter to voice his opinion on the situation. His ideas were heavily scrutinized, mainly because they were different from those of much of the nation. “What kind of person celebrates death?” Mendenhall said. “It’s amazing how people can hate a man they have never even heard speak.” Mendenhall stated in his clarification that he did not attempt to cause controversy, but due to the massive audience of social media, he attracted more attention than was intended. Mendenhall’s tweets caused his number of followers to go from 13,631 to 36,914 in one day, according to News One. Mendenhall’s comments were discussed not solely due to their controversial meaning, but also because as an athlete, Mendenhall has power. Whether or not social media is to blame for the attention athletes stir up in the media is debatable. “In terms of sports, social media has not made players into distractions for their teams, but instead, it has allowed players who are already distractions to their teams reach a wider audience,” junior Aaron Zelinger said. Chad Ochocinco may be considered a distraction to his team, but that would be the case whether or not he had a Twitter. In 2009, both the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) imposed rules regarding when athletes can use
social media or other forms of communication for personal use. These rules prevent players from tweeting or communicating before games until after postgame interview obligations. “If athletes choose to tweet everything they do, so be it,” Sneider said. “But bringing [social media] into the locker room and onto the field, like when Ochocinco tweets at halftime, is unacceptable–it’s selfish and disrespectful to your team.” Athletes are also using online videos to express their beliefs. Both Sean Avery, a left wing on the New York Rangers, and Brendan Ayanbadejo, a linebacker on the Baltimore Ravens, have expressed their views supporting same-sex marriage. Avery, one of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) most hated players due to his on- and off-field antics, published a video supporting New York’s right to complete marriage equality. He joined the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to back efforts to support homosexuals in New York and in the NHL. “I’ll stand beside [any NHL player] in the dressing room while he tells his teammates he is gay,” Yahoo reported Avery as saying. “Maybe if Sean Avery is there, they would have less of a problem with it.” Avery’s comment attracted sharp criticism from NHL agent Todd Reynolds. Reynolds labeled Avery’s support of same-sex marriage as “misguided,” and the act of equal marriage as “wrong.” Ayanbadejo created a video supporting the civil rights organization Equality Maryland by declaring his thoughts in favor of homosexuals having the right to marry. “Gay and lesbian couples want to marry for similar reasons as we all do: love and commitment,” Ayanbadejo said, as reported by Out Sports. “It’s time to allow them the opportunity to build a family through marriage. It’s a matter of fairness.” Both the support and criticism that each of these athletes has attracted displays the impact that social media has. It allows athletes, more notable for their on-field achievements, to draw attention to their off-field, personal beliefs. Online communication makes athlete empowerment possible. Due to the attention society gives professional sports, social media posts from athletes will potentially act as distractions until they are either widely accepted or completely prohibited. While these messages frequently cause controversy, many athletes use the internet to express themselves.
marchavlik in my opinion
As the final minutes tick by during the state championship game, I stand in the sidelines looking through my 400mm lens watching the Vikings defend against the Huskies. With the intensity of each passing play and a close view of the gladiatorial players lining in formation, I feel like I am part of the game with so much energy and anticipation emanating from the players and the fans in the stands. It is almost impossible for me to keep my eyes focused through the eyepiece in the final minutes of the suspenseful game. Photojournalism has always fascinated me. As a photojournalist, I try to tell a story solely using pictures. Sports photography is one of the most frustrating yet most rewarding types of photography. There is so much potential every time I snap a photo, but because each moment is so spontaneous and unpredictable, I need to anticipate each play if I want to be able to capture the golden moments. A trained eye can follow plays while looking closely through the lens, looking at the big picture, while the other eye is zoomed in detail, ready to take a photo. A photographer is only as good as his or her camera. If you have a camera with an extremely fast shutter speed, you can capture split-second moments. These images are sharp and clear while portraying a deeper message. On a rainy day you can snap a shot of a player’s face breaking through the wall of water droplets as he or she sprints across the field. These shots provide new, profound perspectives for others to look at and interpret for themselves what was truly taking place.
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