On the TUNNEYSIDE of SPORTS December 24, 2012 #416 Coming up next…To tweet or not to…
After further review…Social media may be that present you’ve been waiting for all year. If the fast evolving media landscape is new to you and you’re not sure what to make of Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/Skype/LinkedIn/Pin Press as well as texting, then welcome to the 21st century! Many are into social media as the preeminent form of communication and enjoy (safe to say “hooked-on”) those forms of instant contact. Many others decry SM’s lack of personal, face-to-face communication. But there is no doubt that SM is here to stay.
Sports stars have jumped in feet first. Seems most don’t want to wait for the creaky old delivery systems of TV, radio, newspapers, etc, when it’s right there on the mobile device that’s always at their fingertips. Sports figures–almost to a person–have Twitter accounts and “tweet” each other constantly.
Brandon Jacobs, 30, an erstwhile running back for the San Francisco 49ers, decided to criticize his head coach Jim Harbaugh for “not playing me enough”. Jacobs pouted via Twitter that he was “rotting away in a nothing role” sitting on the bench. Drafted out of Auburn University in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL draft, Jacobs played seven years for the New York Giants, who released him after the 2011 season. The ‘Niners picked up Jacobs in 2012 and used him in short-yardage situations. When back-up ‘Niners running back Kendall Hunter went down with an ankle injury and was lost for the season, Jacobs thought he would be inserted into that spot. Instead Coach Harbaugh gave the job to University of Oregon rookie LaMichael James.
Enter Jacobs with his tweet blasting Harbaugh “This is the worst year I’ve ever had”, he pouted on Twitter, prompting Harbaugh to suspend him for the remaining three games of the 2012 season. It is certainly evident that a player doesn’t endear himself to his coach using this method. Seems here that Jacobs used twitter as his diary, where it is appropriate to vent your feelings in privacy. Asking for a meeting with your head coach (insert any synonym for coach that applies) and expressing your unhappiness while searching for answers, would seem to be a more successful strategy for resolving disputes.
Will you be cautious using twitter or other forms of social media as a means of relieving your personal unhappiness?
On behalf of all of us at www.jimtunney.com (e: jim@jimtunney.com.), we wish you a joyful and blessed holiday season!
