Is Transparency In Athletics Really What We Want?

I don't want to really talk about this John Terry ordeal much longer but it brings me to another topic to talk about today. The main topic I would like to touch on is the use of social networking with athletes and how it contributes or detracts from the idea of athletes being role models. I find this very interesting because athletics and technology are two things I'm seriously thinking about going into but also because I feel this specific aspect is getting more relevant and important.

As it is, there is already a war going on about enforcing sportsmanship in professional athletics whether it be against foul language, unnecessary violence, or racism. Many argue that these actions on the field are picked up by the youth and thus will be perpetuated. To draw an example from the Terry ordeal, Rio Ferdinand's agreement in referring to Ashley Cole, Terry's black teammate who testified for Terry, as "Choc Ice" over Twitter brings about something that has become a bit of a trend for athletes and fans alike. Twitter provides a very fast and open way to react to and talk about current events. The problem is that it is very public and even though you can delete tweets (as Ferdinand did), there is still usually enough time for eager followers to screen shot your comments. If you think mildly ambiguous actions on the field can be impressionable on the youth, I would say rude comments over the internet are just as direct if not more. The growing number of athletes coming to Twitter is beginning to make it harder to keep up the "role model" fight because you get to hear their unedited thoughts and for some it really doesn't do them any justice. We all know that many professional athletes come from somewhat bad or rough backgrounds so to me there is an understanding that in the heat of the match things will get rough. This new transparency over Twitter has exposed a new battlefront for which actions can actually be taken for "banter" that gets too offensive.

I am curious to see whether this becomes a vehicle for making an example out of athletes. If they could use a shady Youtube video against John Terry then it makes a lot of sense that if someone actually tweets something offensive, action should be taken. Will this then bring more control from the clubs over who can be on Twitter? Will this then finally make people give up on the idea of athletes as role models or will it actually help the cause by giving another way to punish the bad examples? These are questions I'm anxious to see answered.


Daniel