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| Don Jones |
Professional athletes have been getting themselves in trouble via their Twitter account for years now. Our greatest recent example is Dolphins player, Don Jones. After hearing of openly gay NFL hopeful Michael Sam being drafted by the St. Louis Rams this last month and watching Sam’s televised kiss with his boyfriend, Jones tweeted remarks including “OMG,” and “Horrible.” Deeming his tweet inappropriate and unacceptable, coach Joe Philbin announced that Jones was to be fined, temporarily suspended from the offseason workouts, and participate in educational training. Jones has since deleted the controversial tweet, set his Twitter account to private, apologized to Michael Sam, completed his suspension and educational training, and has been reinstated to the Dolphins. This story has been a frenzy for any sports news journalist or enthusiast, regardless of what sociopolitical side you take on the controversy. It also sparked a national discussion on free speech.
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| Michael Sam |
Thanks to advances in social media,
this controversy is possible. Even with social media rules and regulations
athletes agree to obey, they are still causing trouble for themselves and their
team. I believe that we are only in the first stages of what social media will become. New apps and websites will continue to develop, and it will become harder to control what athletes are expressing to the public as social media becomes a bigger part of our daily lives. Journalism will also continue to change and adapt with technology. Fans will become more involved with both newscasters and athletes, and as they become "Friends" with these public figures on Facebook, the very definition of "friend" will change. This trend may be what made Jones' comments so impactful. We feel like our favorite athletes are at times an extension of our own family and moral codes, and as a pseudo family member, fans either fought to defend or denounce him.
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