Mike Preston: Social media has changed the narrative for NFL players, and it is not good

[Doc]

1 hour ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

To a point. There is also a lot that is awesome about it. It’s all on how the person chooses to use it.

 

The bad far outweighs the good.

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Do you have kids?  Social media is terrifying.  They spend their time on it (or their friends do) at a young age, and internalize the “like/dislike” dynamic, plus one mistake they make will follow them around for life potentially.  It’s horrible.  (And my parents’ generation is worse!  Baby Boomers on Facebook is possibly the worst thing that has happened in this century.  They fill their time with Facebook-surfing for cat videos, conspiracy theories, stupid memes and lame jokes, hokey sayings of encouragement, pictures of their new kitchens, etc.  THE WORST.)

 

It happened to Josh Allen because he posted something which was fine in his circle but someone doing research looked far in past and brought it up for clicks/eyes or to try to manipulate draft status which Pegulas looked at and said not an issue as long as he addressed it. 

 

There was a player with a bong mask which was very affected in draft.

 

Companies working in federal government area do a deep dive looking at social media on candidates.  One had a good interview and then results came back and he was not considered.  The company had a policy on not saying why a candidate was not hired and just said he was not in pool when he asked.  I was interviewer and he got my extension from from desk and asked why he is not receiving consideration (careful wording on his part) and I told him I am not on the hiring sign list but my advice when he was searching for work to extremely limit your social media presence including comments to things you post. He said "S***! My brother was joking about that party." and I replied "I do not know what was reason for you not being picked for next interview for I do not see other interview score sheets but this industry tends to be conservative."

[teef]

people should just do what i do, and only use social media to post shirtless pictures of themselves.  

[Saxum]

7 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

The bad far outweighs the good.

 

One "I am sorry" is not worth 20 comments saying "Good job on that".

[Billschinatown]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

*BING*. 

 

Didn't he admit that during his final year with the Bills, he was off his meds, using recreational drugs, showing up for meetings high, and his level of play had fallen off (hence being asked to renegotiate)?

Take Meds --> get healthy/improve lifestyle --> feel so good you get off pills --> get sick again --> take meds (repeat)

 

It's  a lousy unfair cycle for those affected. 

[C.Biscuit97]

2 hours ago, teef said:

people should just do what i do, and only use social media to post shirtless pictures of themselves.  

I like posting pictures of me working out; handing money to homeless people; and posing with a fish or animal I killed. I get so many likes. 

2 hours ago, Doc said:

 

The bad far outweighs the good.

Sounds like someone hasn’t slide in any DMs. 😉

[nucci]

2 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

Social media is proof most people are really and truly stupid.

 

[junior]

Yawn

[billsfan89]

The article is basically an old man yelling at a cloud type stuff. Yes social media is yet another pitfall for players to fall into. But social media also gives players a platform and a voice that can be used positively to interact with fans or get around bad media spin. It also allows the players to showcase their personality directly. It also allows players to shape their own narrative and not be bullied by the organization. 

 

The NFL has incorporated social media literacy and how to use social media responsibly as a public figure into the rookie transition program. So these players are made aware of how to use it. I think teams even offer their marketing agencies to run their accounts if they want to. If teams have to hire a few entry level staff to monitor their players social media so be it. But overall things aren't that bad as this article makes it seem.

[teef]

21 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

I like posting pictures of me working out; handing money to homeless people; and posing with a fish or animal I killed. I get so many likes. 

 

if you include food that you are currently cooking or eating,  i think you will have covered the spectrum.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, teef said:

if you include food that you are currently cooking or eating,  i think you will have covered the spectrum.

 

You left out: playing with your kids, golfing, traveling somewhere in a vehicle (plane, truck), and drinking some beverage with the name of its source showing

[The 9 Isles]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Social media gives everyone a voice. Some people have good judgment on how and when to use their voice. Some people don't. In the NFL it has given players a much more accessible public platform where what they say isn't filtered. They are using it to exert pressure, create leverage and ultimately get their way. 

 

That would be true if not for the tech companies running them and manipulating algorithms to keep people angry and thus more engaged for profit. 

[appoo]

It's amazing how much people in power whine and cry when they lose the ability to control every aspect of the humans they have in their power.

 

This isn't about social media. This is about men in power who no choice but respect the freedom of voice of their employees - something they NEVER had to worry about. Suddenly, fearing public opinion for your actions, is a real thing.

 

In general, those organizations that generally allow their people to freely express themselves, are thriving today.

 

The NBA took an early stance that their players are their own real people, with their own voices, which they are free to express. The NFL was all about "Protect the Shield", and now you have BS like this being leaked to the media, along with a league that's badly struggling with it's image, and is often at war with it's own players.

 

That's no random nor coincidental.

3 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

It happened to Josh Allen because he posted something which was fine in his circle but someone doing research looked far in past and brought it up for clicks/eyes or to try to manipulate draft status which Pegulas looked at and said not an issue as long as he addressed it. 

 

There was a player with a bong mask which was very affected in draft.

 

Companies working in federal government area do a deep dive looking at social media on candidates.  One had a good interview and then results came back and he was not considered.  The company had a policy on not saying why a candidate was not hired and just said he was not in pool when he asked.  I was interviewer and he got my extension from from desk and asked why he is not receiving consideration (careful wording on his part) and I told him I am not on the hiring sign list but my advice when he was searching for work to extremely limit your social media presence including comments to things you post. He said "S***! My brother was joking about that party." and I replied "I do not know what was reason for you not being picked for next interview for I do not see other interview score sheets but this industry tends to be conservative."

 

That unfortunately one of the consequences of peeling back the lid, and letting people have their expression of voice and culture.

 

It's bad that those kids lost out on opportunities, that they got scalded, but I hope to see is those people who refuse to hire someone because of a freakin party picture, loosen the hell up...that's the evolution I want to see. Yes kids are gonna be kids, people are gonna say dumb things, gonna say bad things fueled by ignorance...I wish all those things were viewed as inconsequential or as teaching moments. Not things that should forever brand someone.

 

But also, that's real life, and it shouldn't be hidden away, and we shouldn't be afraid of it.

[hjnick]

I think all this 'privileged' people's whining is going to force a change in contracts that they sign.

 

I think a number of teams wouldn't mind getting rid of some of their high cost talent.  The only real problem they have is the cap hit they would need to take to jettison them from the team.  So teams are going to start putting wording into contracts where if you request a trade, you will need to give back some guaranteed money, which will lessen the cap hit, so those players can get moved easier because the big hits come from the guaranteed money you gave them up front.

 

If a player wants a new view or a change of scenery, pay for it.

[appoo]

2 minutes ago, hjnick said:

I think all this 'privileged' people's whining is going to force a change in contracts that they sign.

 

I think a number of teams wouldn't mind getting rid of some of their high cost talent.  The only real problem they have is the cap hit they would need to take to jettison them from the team.  So teams are going to start putting wording into contracts where if you request a trade, you will need to give back some guaranteed money, which will lessen the cap hit, so those players can get moved easier because the big hits come from the guaranteed money you gave them up front.

 

If a player wants a new view or a change of scenery, pay for it.

It's the players who are privelages and not the super rich owners?

[Doc]

55 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Sounds like someone hasn’t slide in any DMs. 😉

 

No need.  I'm married.

[GunnerBill]

23 minutes ago, The 9 Isles said:

That would be true if not for the tech companies running them and manipulating algorithms to keep people angry and thus more engaged for profit. 

 

Oh I agree. There is an element of the puppet master and the puppet. 

[hjnick]

7 minutes ago, appoo said:

It's the players who are privelages and not the super rich owners?

Well, considering the whole topic is on players social media...

 

We are discussing players that make millions of dollars a year to play a game.  Yeah, I guess that would be the definition of privileged. I wish I was that privileged.

 

 

[appoo]

Oh and an aspect about NFL players that should be discussed here - contracts aren't guaranteed.  So that means a club can cut a player's ass whenever they want, and all they'd owe them is the money they already gave them, and whatever % of guaranteed money is left over - for which most NFL contracts isn't a huge amount.

 

I'm not a huge fan of what DeShaun Watson is doing, but I'm not without sympathy either. If teams can walk away from players with a click of a button, while players have to launch an entire media campaign over the course of months, to be able to switch teams, that's inherently unbalanced.

 

There's inequity, and when thaythappens, there's ALWAYS going to be a power struggle, and it's going to be the less powerful trying to gain more power. Right now, the best tool players have to level that playing field, is through social media, because they can galvanize support around them.

 

Right or wrong.

[appoo]

Here's a radical idea, allow players to walk out of a contract as easily as teams can cut players.

 

Pay back 50% of your signing bonus, nullify all future guaranteed money, and you can walk.

 

That would resolve a lot of the whining about social media.