Social media, players, and fans

[HuskyNan]

Every now and then, this topic comes up. It's been a while so I thought I would repost my thoughts regarding UConn (and other) players, social media, and us fans.

The players are teens/young adults that use social media to communicate with each other and family. Their posts are almost exclusively about their personal lives and personal relationships, not basketball. While most of the stuff is innocuous, occasionally the young people will post photographs that when reposted on a message board get discussed, sometimes inappropriately.

I really don't think that the Boneyard should be used to talk about young womens' faces and figures - and, yes, I understand that no one means to be offensive. I just don't want to expose young women to that kind of scrutiny on what should be a board discussing their basketball prowess. In the past I've bee contacted that someone close to a player thought a post was offensive, so please be aware. I would also ask that information on players' personal social media accounts not be broadcasted on the board.

I'm not just talking about UConn players but all college-aged and younger players. Sometimes in pursuing recruiting info, fans peruse social media accounts and link them here. There have been comments on players' looks that really don't have anything to do with what we need or want to know and troublesome when discussing 16 + 17 year olds. Please consider before posting how the post will sound.

Thanks for your cooperation on this.

 

[HuskyNan]

And because you knew someone just had to ask....

The difference between discussing the players' appearance as I said above and the threads on Kaleena's weight is that the weight discussions were regarding her fitness level, not to determine how attractive she is. We're not going to revisit that topic, btw.

 

[Bonpland]

Good job Nan.

 

[DavidinNaples]

Can I still comment on how chubby meyers7 looked after he ate the whole rib plate at Bokamper's....?!?!

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I'll add that I don't particularly care for "sniffing" at the personal lives of any of the public figures in the game, including coaches. I do think following coaches twitter accounts is "ok" because they are (in the cases I know of) intended for public consumption. Beyond that - not a good place to go. And a reminder would be that the former RU Assistant / former UCSB head coach Carlene Mitchell had to deal with a stalker.

And as Nan points out, when it gets to "kids" it just becomes "yucky" besides.

 

[meyers7]

Can I still comment on how chubby meyers7 looked after he ate the whole rib plate at Bokamper's....?!?!

Thanks for the compliment. Most people skip right over chubby and go straight to fat.

And for the record, I was just as chubby prior to eating the ribs.

 

[UcMiami]

Agree with everything said above.

Just want to point out that some of our members are in fact 'kids' too, and following social media postings of people their own age. For the rest of us ancient posters it is 'yucky'.

I do enjoy the occasional photo posted here from social media as it gives a view of the camaraderie away from the court and it certainly is public info. And I hope those do still pass muster.

But I am very leery of any personal comments about any recruits, team members, and coaches - most of them are comments that would never be posted about male athletes/coaches - stereotyping that female athletes have been fighting since the first female pursued athletic excellence.

 

[CL82]

Agree with everything said above.

I do enjoy the occasional photo posted here from social media as it gives a view of the camaraderie away from the court and it certainly is public info. And I hope those do still pass muster.

Same. I guess context is the key here.

 

[iamcbs]

How about adults just not follow the Social Media Accounts of Players, period. In all sports and for all teams. There's just no viable reason to follow the Social Media Account of a child I don't know personally, no matter how big a fan I may be.

 

[HoopsFan21]

To be fair 95% of college athletes, perhaps a higher percentage than that, are not children. Almost all of them are 18+, and most of them are in their 20s.

 

[Orangutan]

How about adults just not follow the Social Media Accounts of Players, period. In all sports and for all teams. There's just no viable reason to follow the Social Media Account of a child I don't know personally, no matter how big a fan I may be.

I see where you are coming from, but for me the takeaway is "How about adults just not objectify teen/early 20s women, period? In all sports and for all teams. There's just no viable reason to objectify teen/early 20s women."

 

[iamcbs]

To be fair 95% of college athletes, perhaps a higher percentage than that, are not children. Almost all of them are 18+, and most of them are in their 20s.

My comment is geared more toward recruits, where this issue seems to be a problem for many schools. However making comments about women's appearances regardless of age, on social media isn't a good thing.

 

[triaddukefan]

I see where you are coming from, but for me the takeaway is "How about adults just not objectify teen/early 20s women, period? In all sports and for all teams. There's just no viable reason to objectify teen/early 20s women."

So i guess once a woman reaches 25... then its fair game

 

[Orangutan]

So i guess once a woman reaches 25... then its fair game

No, it just gets slightly less gross

 

[msf22b]

Sone of this discussion I imagine is a response to the deletion of the post with the picture of the "woman in white."
I don't do Facebook and Twitter, nor follow the kids on Social media, I only saw the image here.
Am not au courant enough to comment on the issues of those who follow the players on social media.

But the displayed picture, while surely a representation of a gaggle of healthy, extraordinarily attractive young woman was surely innocuous enough.

And they posed and posted it; surely the team is not ashamed of it.
Indeed this photo may indicate a desire on their part to be recognized for more than their on court acumen.
Who are we to deny them?

I for one can enjoy such an image without posting...whatever... that might cause concern. As can most members.
Surely any post that crosses that line can be modified or deleted.

I think Nan that in this case a desire for propriety and whatever concerns that you noted above, caused the mods to wander over the line into unnecessary censorship.

 

[CocoHusky]

But the displayed picture, while surely a representation of a gaggle of healthy, extraordinarily attractive young woman was surely innocuous enough.
And they posed and posted it; surely the team is not ashamed of it.
Indeed this photo may indicate a desire on their part to be recognized for more than their on court acumen.
Who are we to deny them?

You have overlooked the logic in the moderators rationale: " The players are teens/young adults that use social media to communicate with each other and family. Their posts are almost exclusively about their personal lives and personal relationships, not basketball."
Of course they posted in (on Social Media) and are not ashamed of it. Not all content posted on social media is content for the boneyard. The Boneyard should be about basketball. The content was deleted from the Boneyard,that is hardly censorship and was very necessary IMO.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I don't recall other threads of photos of the team together posted on social media being deleted. Maybe my memory is foggy.

 

[meyers7]

The Boneyard should be about basketball.

Well we know that isn't true. This place would be half empty.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I guess you could call it "censorship".... if you're forgetting that this is a board with "rules" and moderators. They negotiate a fine, ever changing line - and for no pay. Not everyone who posts or reads here will agree with there decisions - be it about this particular deletion or any other actions they may take surrounding comments, behavior and such. That is there prerogative - as it is any posters to review the Boneyard rules/guidelines.

This fan board, because of its size - and the size of Husky Nation - has many outside eyes: UConn, NCAA, students, student-athletes, parents. It is a public board, which means the host has a right to mod. in the manner they see fit. This question about what is appropriate when it comes to off-court life and social media is a tricky one. No one is saying the UConn players shouldn't post pictures. But if, like the directive "don't drag carp from other boards to this board," the choice of these mods is that they'd rather not REpost certain things, then cool. I can deal with that - 'cause, while this board has never been just about basketball, mostly I read it because it's about basketball.

No one is saying that, if you want to, you shouldn't hunt down a player's twitter feed, Facebook, Vine etc. Do so, and you'll have a different level of knowledge about what's going on in their lives. Folks have, and sometimes they're share their knowledge with the board. But, I think we can agree, there can such a thing as too much information. What I'm hearing is that these mods are trying to figure out where they sit in being an amplifier and megaphone to that knowledge. That's especially awkward with the visibility of UConn and the tendency of certain folks in the world to objectify women in ways that can be uncomfortable, diminishing and demeaning.

I don't envy them.

 

[UcMiami]

TJI - very well written.
I don't agree with everything that the moderators do, but I love the fact that they 'do their job' so well!

This is by far the most readable and enjoyable sports board and probably the best public posting site on any topic, I visit because it does not include flame wars between posters or nasty, uncouth, demeaning, etc. posts. And it is because of strict rules and strict enforcement from the mods that it remains so. And they are amazingly active in monitoring the board so most situations are quickly dealt with before things get out of hand.

SO - Time to say THANK YOU! again to the moderators for all they do for the Uconn nation and all of our great visitors.

Specific to the picture posted - I do not think it as stand alone would have been necessarily inappropriate, but I noticed it did have handles imbedded in it, and it was an open invitation for some of our less restrained members to perhaps make inappropriate comments. There have certainly been previous postings with pictures of team members dressed to the nines that did not draw censure.

 

[HuskyNan]

Sone of this discussion I imagine is a response to the deletion of the post with the picture of the "woman in white."
I don't do Facebook and Twitter, nor follow the kids on Social media, I only saw the image here.
Am not au courant enough to comment on the issues of those who follow the players on social media.

But the displayed picture, while surely a representation of a gaggle of healthy, extraordinarily attractive young woman was surely innocuous enough.

And they posed and posted it; surely the team is not ashamed of it.
Indeed this photo may indicate a desire on their part to be recognized for more than their on court acumen.
Who are we to deny them?

I for one can enjoy such an image without posting...whatever... that might cause concern. As can most members.
Surely any post that crosses that line can be modified or deleted.

I think Nan that in this case a desire for propriety and whatever concerns that you noted above, caused the mods to wander over the line into unnecessary censorship.

As is usually the case, the thread wasn't deleted because of the photo, it was deleted because the comments about the photo went beyond "gaggle of healthy, extraordinarily attractive young women". When a thread starts to downward trend the way that one did, it's far easier to delete it than have to edit and prune it.

Folks making comments about young women should ask themselves if they would mind strangers talking about their daughter/sister/wife in the same way.

 

[msf22b]

[QUOTE="HuskyNan, post: 1410466. When a thread starts to downward trend the way that one did, it's far easier to delete it than have to edit and prune it.[/QUOTE]

I for one can enjoy such a picture (any way I please) without finding it necessary to post salacious comment.
I'm sorry that others cannot exhibit self-control.
Too bad, wonderful pix.

 

[DaddyChoc]

interesting discussion