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These stakes could be magnified for student athletes due to how they are looked up to in their community or across the country. These mistakes can also effect the athlete’s reputation, their team’s reputation, and their school’s reputation. Social media can be very dangerous to student athletes, especially those on scholarship. Making a big mistake on a post can result in a variety of punishments. Usually, for first time offenders, it can result in a suspension.
If a top player from any team gets suspended, it is going to hurt their chances of winning; this will look bad to the student athlete’s fans and old hurt their relationship with their teammates. It could also hurt the athlete’s chance of getting scouted because they now have fewer opportunities to get looked at by professional scouts. An athlete that has multiple offenses, or has a really bad first offense, could result in loss of scholarship and expulsion form the school. Some student athletes may not be able to afford tuition at another school or other schools may simply not accept the student.
Any offense could possibly get any student athlete blacklisted from professional teams or a job once they receive their degree. Professional sports programs are now taking athletes behavior more seriously than ever. The professional programs want their players to be looked at as professional and looked up to as role models. Employers are looking at prospected employees’ social media as a way to get to know more about them and to see if they are mature enough to handle what is being asked of them.
A bad social media post can really hurt an applicant’s chance of getting a job. A team can be greatly impacted by student athlete’s social media posts. A team could lose their best player, they could lose multiple layers, or they could get sanctioned by the NCAA. If a team loses their best player to social media posts, it will hurt them in many ways. One of those ways is that the team will miss out on valuable points in games or valuable defense. The loss Of points and defense could cause losses in important games; this makes the losses the suspended player’s fault.
The best players actions can also become a bad influence on the rest of the team. As the best player on the team, they are looked up to as leader, and teammates will follow his lead. One bad post by a player on a team could get the whole am in trouble. This could happen in multiple ways. One way is making a post, or posting, a picture of a team party. This can get the party busted by the police, the coach, or other NCAA officials, and most NCAA athletes are under the age of twenty-one.
Another way a team can get in trouble is a team prank and having evidence of the prank by posting it on social media. These actions could cause multiple people to be suspended or kicked off the team If the team gets in enough trouble with social media posts, they could get sanctioned by the NCAA One way a team can get sanctioned is “For coaches, interactions with prospective student-athletes during the recruiting process is addressed in NCAA bylaws. They may only communicate with individuals using social media during permissible recruiting contact periods. (Warner 1). Sanctions can include forfeiting games, loss of scholarships, and loss of postseason opportunities. Sanctions can ruin a team’s season of hard work, all because of someone’s bad judgment in making social media posts. It can also hurt future team member’s chances of getting a scholarship. It can also hurt a team’s reputation which can have a big impact on the school. Social media posts Of student athletes can have a big impact on a school. The two main things it can hurt are the school’s reputation and income.
A bad reputation can hurt the school because they can lose incoming students and recruits; they can lose booster donations and fan support. The loss of booster donations means the school has to fund more of the athletic programs, which the school may not have the money to spend. This can result in cutting athletic teams or different school programs. The loss of fan support means they sell less tickets, less merchandise, and less concessions. Schools can also receive hefty fines from the NCAA for bad social media posts by their athletes.
Social media can also have a good impact on student athletes. Athletes can use social media for good press, show team support, promote games and events, and to connect with fans. Good press for an athlete can be beneficial to connect with professional teams or future employers. Promoting certain events can create a bigger fan base out to the events and promote fan growth. Connection with the fans can make the fans feel special and make them more loyal to the team. In conclusion, social media can be bad for student athletes.
Social media can cause scholarship losses, team sanctions, and a loss in a school’s major revenue. Social media can also be beneficial to student athletes it can help get the athlete good press, expand events, and connect with fans. In the end it comes down to the athlete and the school on how athletes use social media and how schools train their student athletes to use social media.