Professional athletes and social media.

Hughes, J. (2013, March 13). NFL players' use of social media is a cause for concern for teams. Bleacher report.

  This article talks about the problems social media is causing for NFL players, and professional athletes in general. The problem with these types of athletes is they are constantly under a microscope. As soon as they step out of line or make a comment on social media that someone finds inappropriate or offensive they get heavily criticized for it. Lots of times it is just a case of an athlete talking through frustration before he thinks. In my opinion a lot of it is over analyzed and unnecessary. Yes these athletes need to be great role models but over analyzing their social media statements isn’t helping anybody out. The microscope and room for error for these elite athletes has become so bad that some have even resorted to deleting their accounts. Arian Foster, who has over 350, 000 followers, recently indicated that he was going to shut down his account. This is not productive for anybody because fans and the public then loose the ability to follow and keep in touch with their favourite athletes. Yes some of them have stepped out of line in the past with inappropriate comments, but as does almost everybody.

  I think the article is useful in portraying how intense the microscope truly is on professional athletes. You see it at all elite sport levels even before they are considered professional. College athletes have their social media accounts monitored by the NCAA, and can face heavy penalties or even suspensions for social media posts. Athletes are roll models for people of all ages and should be very respectful when dealing with social media. But in saying that they need some freedom to speak their mind just like everybody else, otherwise what is the point?