Athletes and social media; is it a problem?

By Grey Stephens
December 11, 2018

The presence of athletes on social media gives fans a place to love or hate them. Recently, JJ Reddick of the Philadelphia 76ers, deleted all his social media accounts. This left fans asking the question, why? When asked why by multiple news sources, Reddick says he has never been comfortable with social media and that Twitter has become a bunch of angry voices. This past summer, he spent time with his family relaxing in the Hamptons. During the off-season, he almost signed to play for the Indiana Pacers, but decided to re-sign with Philadelphia. Reddick is one of the few athletes that feels this way about social media. While some athletes use social media for more exposure, it might not always be in their best interest.

Anthony Linder-Creo, member of the Cabrini men’s basketball team, says he’s deleted posts from his past on his social media. The post were from a younger age and do not reflect who he is anymore.

“Social media is basically your everyday life, and it’s how you portray yourself. You can get a lot from someones social media account, so I think its the best to keep it as positive as possible,” Linder-Creo said.

Last April, Julio Jones, member of the Atlanta Falcons, deleted pictures of Falcon photos from his Instagram. During that time, when the players returned from the off-season, he was expected to come back. Jones failed to show up. This created some tension, and made news sources interested in Jones’ agenda. The team of Atlanta said that the photos deleted were specifically because Jones wanted a fresh start on social media.

Before this, Jones was a guest on an episode of “Bama Football Shop Talk.

“At the end of the day, when that social media is gone, you delete social media right now, what you stand for? Who are you? Social media ain’t going to make me,” Jones said.

Another incident happened this year. Russian UFC fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov posted a video of him and his cousin giving homeless people money to do push-ups on the street, while laughing. People on the internet did not find this amusing, and called the behavior disgusting and degrading.  The video was seen by thousands before the UFC fighter deleted it.

“Its hard for major athletes because they are under such a huge microscope, there has been slip ups with some posting either a picture or something they regret doing and will take it down,” Linder-Creo said.

Andre Justin, member of the Cabrini men’s soccer team says that star athletes tend to post things that don’t reflect their best self.

“Sometimes I think they’re pushed to be someone they’re not to get their name out there,” Justin said.

He also went on to say how even though Cabrini is a Division III school, coaches take what they do on social media just as seriously as star athletes.

“I know when coach Dallas recruited me, he would always check on my social media and see what I was up to,” Justin said. “Now that I’m a junior, he talks to me about some new recruits and asks me how they are on social media, just so he can get an idea of who he’s bringing into the program.”

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Grey Stephens

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