NBA Releases Social Media Guidelines
Friday, October 2, 2009 by Jon Meoli
This article details the National Basketball Association's new policy on social media during games, which bans it from 45 minutes before the game starts until the post-game media session is over. While athletes and celebrities in general have embraced Twitter recently, this has rang even more true among basketball players, with Shaquille O'Neal's account being followed by over 2 million people. However, this ban is in response to one player tweeting during halftime of a game last season, telling his 1,600 followers that he was "In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up." (He did, scoring 19 points after halftime.)
While it seems like common sense that these athletes who make millions of dollars a year would be able to put down their phones for a few hours, that they allow players to post during half of the pre-game warmup shows that the NBA is embracing the power of Twitter and it's undeniable interest in culture today. And unlike the player who used his twitter during a game and was fined for it, not all social media is considered taboo. Over the summer, another player broke the news that his coach had been fired via Twitter with no consequences.
Yeah was reading about this. The NBA has their own Twitter account, almost every team has their own account, so they're fully on board. But if you're a player you have to be professional. In my view, 'Tweeting' at half time certainly is not.
Oh and don't forget Michael Beasley's Twitter incident. Posting things like "Feelin like it's not worth livin!! I'm done" and posting photos with drugs before checking into rehab. But I suppose Twitter is merely an outlet for these deeper issues.
So hyped for this upcoming season though hehe.