How Social Media is Changing College Sports
In the past decade, the landscape of college football has changed drastically. In the past season, the NCAA has shifted away from the Bowl Championship format to a four-team play-off system, which saw Ohio State University get crowned as the national champion. Ranked fourth entering the playoff, Ohio State would not have even been afforded the opportunity to vie for a championship under the Bowl Championship format. While the four-team playoff is a drastic change to the college football landscape, the biggest change to college football over the past decade did not take place on the field or with a rules changeâthe biggest change to college football was the use of social media as a means of college football coaches, fans and players to interact; however, the biggest impact may be on the next generation of college football players: high school recruits. Like any other teenager, high school football players use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to communicate with friends. With strict rules NCAA rules about phone calls, text messages, and in-person interactions, coaches have increasingly turned to social media to communicate with prospective players; however, coaches are not the only ones turning to social media to interact with these prospects. Fans of certain college football teams often interact with high school players that are considering playing for their favorite college team. Most of the interactions between fans of certain college teams and high school athletes are positive, but the impact of social mediaâespecially Twitter, can also be negative. In fact, sometimes interactions between fans and prospective athletes can make or break a high school athleteâs decision of where to attend college.
Fans can keep on thinking they're words don't hurt in recruiting if they want to. Statement from Ohio St signees mom pic.twitter.com/7AiTXt8bAW
â Chad Wilson (@GridironStuds) February 7, 2015
High School All-American running back Michael Weberâs mother reacts to negative tweets he received from fans of the University of Michigan. Consider the case of high school All-American Michael Weber. Weber was one of the top high school football players in the nation this past year. Weber, Detroit, Michigan native, originally planned on playing college football locally at the University of Michigan; however, he chose to reevaluate his decision when the University of Michiganâs head coach was fired after a lackluster season. Weber, a 17 year old, announced he was considering playing at another university via Twitter, and was met with a backlash from the local community.
@mikeweber25 we don't need yo Ass
â SuperBowl Bound (@jordanturne53) November 22, 2014
@mikeweber25 We don't want you at UM anyway - probably couldn't hack the academics anyway. You definitely aren't a Michigan Man
â Joe Thomas (@bazookajoet) November 22, 2014
Some of the tweets received by Michael Weber after announcing he was considering other schools University of Michigan football fans reacted to the announcement like a jilted ex-lover, berating the teenager for being âdisloyal.â Michigan fans tweeted obscenities at him, others questioned his maturity, and some questioned his athletic prowess. In the end, the negative interactions with the fans of University of Michigan football not only spurred Weber to not only rule out playing football for Michigan, but to play his football at their archrival, Ohio State University. Weber is not alone in social media playing a part in a top athleteâs choice of where to attend college; nevertheless, he is in the minority of it playing a negative role in the decision-making process. Typically, fans of a certain college team will tweet positive messages at players, send positive messages via Facebook, and even send them photoshopped images of them playing in the fanâs favorite schoolâs uniform via Instagram. These positive interactions reinforce an athleteâs feeling of belongingness with a school, and can also play a role in where they play college sports. All-in-all, social media is becoming a larger part of the college sports landscape and will shape which universities will dominate college athletics in the near future. Recruiting the next generation of athletes will hinge more on the interactions they have with representatives of the universities seeking to bring their athletic talents to their favorite school than it ever has before. If a university wants to bring elite high school athletes to their respective campus, then they must learn from the example of Michael Weber, and seek to promote positive interaction between prospective athletes and their fan bases.
