TELLING YOUR STORY
student-athletes gain valuable education on benefits and pitfalls of social media
through Athletics Department-sponsored seminar
by Allie Bailey, Rachel Fox, Madison Hudkins and Laura Sumrall
Some of the many perks of being a student-athlete at Texas A&M are the opportunities and experiences we are fortunate to receive off the field. We are lucky to have so much support from the athletic department in helping us succeed in our sport, but also in life. They put on seminars for the student-athletes to prepare us to thrive in life after Texas A&M.
All student-athletes attended a Social Media Seminar this past fall. Janet Judge was the guest speaker who led this spectacular seminar. Janet, who was a student-athlete herself as a soccer player at Harvard University, is currently the President of Sports Law Associates LLC. She also conducts seminars for student-athletes around the country at various universities.
The seminar was one of the best yet. Janet was able to grasp our attention with witty comments and intriguing videos about how social media consumes our lives. Her presentation was informative for student-athletes to learn the consequences of poor behavior on social networking sites. We saw examples of the good, bad, and ugly of student-athletes' social media choices.
We were able to ask Janet some questions, which provided us with more of her in-depth thoughts regarding social media and student-athletes.
We all know and understand the importance of being smart with your social media. When student-athletes arrive at Texas A&M, social media training begins. The golden rule is, "If you don't want your grandma or mom to see it, don't post it." Janet's thoughts were similar to ours when she said, "A careless post, video or tweet can take on a life of its own and stay associated with a student-athlete for a very long time."
Social media training is important for us as student-athletes, not only to maintain eligibility, but also to leave a positive impression about ourselves on the Internet with our online brands.
"My goal is to get student-athletes to think ahead and understand the ramifications of what they may choose to share and in what forums," Judge said. "I want students to be informed and not do something now that they might regret later because they didn't understand the potential consequences."
Judge explained her thoughts on common social media mistakes. There are many ways to put a negative light on yourself through social media, either through profanity, harassment, and so forth.
"In my opinion, unkind posts are the biggest social media mistake," Judge said. "You can't take those back, and often times they do not accurately reflect the views of the person posting."
It is important for future college athletes to be conscious of their social media activity. Where current collegiate athletes worry about future employers, prospective athletes must consider what their social media reputation looks like to college coaches and staff. As Janet reminded us, "Your athletic talent is a gift. It puts you in the spotlight in ways you may not yet understand fully." You would not want to negatively affect your chances of continuing your athletic careers at the collegiate level, and in our case, the professional world.
"What you share matters," said Judge. "It impacts you, your personal brand and your future."
The ability to enhance the future lives of Texas A&M student-athletes is one of our favorite things about being a student-athlete here. Our experience with Ms. Judge was impactful, leaving us with a final question for you to ponder:
"Does your social media tell your story the way you want it told?"