Twittering in Sports

Twittering seems to be the new fad in professional athletes these days. Twitter is a micro-blogging tool or social network that asks the question "what are you doing?" Athletes from all different sports are joining in on the new fad. These athletes use twitter to make fans and other athletes aware of what they're doing and maybe their thoughts at that moment. Famous athletes such as Shaquille O'Neil, Danica Patrick, Chad Ochocinco, and many more participate in this new phenomena.

This new fad has also caused a lot of trouble for athletes, and has even forced organizations to have to put regulations on what they can "tweet" about. Athletes often get in trouble for making bad comments about fans, other players, organizations, and much more. NFL Linebacker for the Washington Redskins, Robert Henson got in some trouble for making comments on how the fans were "dim wits." Running back, Larry Johnson, is currently is some trouble for allegedly making a gay slur on his twitter account. The NBA, NFL, and even individual organizations are coming up with policies regarding these social networks. This YouTube video (which can't be embedded because the authors wouldn't allow it) does a good job explaining the background of Athletes and Twitter. I really think that twitter, although I have never used it, is a cool thing for fans to get to know their idols and favorite professional athletes. Twitter gives regular old people a chance to see that professional athletes are regular people,too and this social network gives fans a window into some of their everyday lives. I think that teams, organizations, and leagues making policies against the use of Twitter violates our freedom of speech. I don't think players should have the right to say slanderous things on Twitter about other players, coaches or organizations, but I do think they should be able to talk about their own personal lives within reason.

MLB's St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa, sued Twitter over the summer for an fake Twitter page under his name. Apparently, this fake page brought up a drunk driving incident of his, as well as two dead Cardinal pitchers which he claims brought him emotional distress and hurt his reputation. Stanford Law professor Mark Lemley says “He’s basically repackaged a defamation suit to make it look like a trademark suit.” He says this because you cannot sue these social networking sites for defamation because of motions passed. There were rumors that Twitter made a settlement with La Russa, but a month later, it was found that La Russa dropped the suit.

I agree that Twitter can't be held responsible for imposter's and what people say on their networking site. They have policies for people to abide by. I can understand why La Russa might have been upset over this incident, but there isn't much Twitter could do to fix this besides terminate the fake page, which was done.

Overall, I think that Twitter is a good way for fans to get in touch with, and have a window into the everyday life of their favorite sports stars. Do organizations have the right to regulate their Twittering? I believe they do to some extent, but athletes should still be able to express themselves like everyone else does.