Illustrating the perils of social media

Athletes are told on a regular basis that their actions on social media could cost them dearly, but few understand that fact until it actually happens.

Gannett recently published an interesting piece illustrating the perils of social media, and the lead is a good one. The first four paragraphs demonstrate exactly why student-athletes must be careful, especially if they have aspirations of playing at a higher level.

Have a look:

Three years ago, Scott Fitch couldn’t believe what he was hearing. A college coach recruiting two of his Fairport High School boys basketball players called to say how much he liked what he saw after watching them play an AAU game, and that he thought both were good enough to see court time on his team as freshmen.

“But we’re going to stop recruiting one of them,” the college coach said.

Stunned, Fitch asked why.

“We found his Twitter account, looked through it and some of what we saw isn’t representative of what our university is about,” the recruiter explained.

Imagine losing everything you’ve worked so hard for, all because you possess an inability to filter yourself on social media. It’s silly, but serious, and coaches should do everything they can to drive that point home.