One of the biggest catalysts to the Twitter explosion is the ability for average, everyday Joes to connect with celebrities (and vice versa). It makes sense. It’s a great opportunity for these “stars” to show how approachable they are without actually going to the trouble of being approachable, and it’s a bit of a kick for the rest of us to get mentioned by someone we only know from television, movies, music, sports, etc.
- The 1980′s version of asking for a re-tweet
A few short weeks ago, our pal @TobaccoRoadMayor alerted us about his son’s rise in fame after Ashton Kutcher re-tweeted a joke about the Casey Anthony trial verdict. With one tweet, blogger Will Lang picked up over 100 new followers, just because of a re-tweet from Kutcher. I’ve even had my own experience with these brief brushes with the rich and famous as I made a “what would Roy Williams tweet” joke in response to new NC State coach Mark Gottfried’s borderline creepy Twitter assault on actress Ashley Judd. I tweeted (in character as Roy) “I don’t know what the crap this iTwitter is, but I wouldn’t mind Ashley Judd fallerin’ me anywhere.” She responded fairly quickly with a joke of her own.
But the above examples are definitely the exception to the rule. Will Lang tweeted something funny, topical and interesting, it got knocked around the Twittersphere a bit and landed on Ashton Kutcher’s timeline, and he felt it was worthy of a re-tweet. That’s a needle in a haystack compared to the millions of Tweets on a daily basis that range from blunt, to the point messages such as “Hey man, can I get a re-tweet?” to the always hilarious “Hey it’s my birthday, how about a re-tweet?”, to the pathetic and cringe worthy messages like the one I read yesterday from Austin Rivers, “How about a re-tweet for a high school basketball coach who uses you as an example of work ethic and love of the game?” Really??? First, I’m assuming your an adult. Second, based on your Tweet, I’m now imagining your room (in your parents’ house) with posters of Austin Rivers all over your wall. I’m also questioning the depth of the background check your school put you through before bringing you on staff.
I’ve tried on several occasions to figure out the benefit of having a celebrity re-tweet something that makes one seem like an idiot to hundreds of thousands of followers. Is it the rush from being simply acknowledged by your favorite public figures? Is it the hope that you’ll gain new followers? Or is it the notion that a re-tweet from a person you idolize will give off the impression that the two of you are somehow friends? As a child of the ’80s, I’m forced to look to John Hughes for the answer. The closest example I can think of to a pre-Twitter “can I get a re-tweet” is probably the scene in 16 Candles where Anthony Michael Hall acquires Molly Ringwald’s panties to show off to his friends in the men’s room to pose as proof that they had sex. That’s right, “Can I get a re-tweet” is the equivalent of asking someone “Can I have your panties?” That’s how utterly ridiculous that question makes you sound.
But still, the problem goes on. I’ve even seen some threatening re-tweet requests like “This is the last time I’m going to ask for a re-tweet” or “I thought the best basketball player in the NBA would give fans a re-tweet, but I guess not.” Disturbing, right? Not if you consider the good that may come out of this in a form of a sequel to “Stan”.
@stan: Hey Marshall, I’m a huge fan. Can I get a re-tweet?
@stan: Hey just making sure you got my first tweet. Maybe I wrote your handle wrong.
@stan: I know you’re busy, but can I get a re-tweet when you get some time?
@stan: Hey I went away from my roots and made three straight shitty albums just like you. Let’s get an apartment.
@stan: Okay, this is bullshit. Why are you ignoring me. Re-tweet?
@stan: I’m driving off of a bridge with my girlfriend in the trunk now. Hope you’re happy.
@eminem: RT @stan: Hey Marshall, I’m a huge fan. Can I get a re-tweet?
So as you can see, it’s not ALL bad news when it comes to these re-tweet requests. But I’m happy to see that the NCAA agrees with me about fans contacting recruits through social media. For the first time in written form, the NCAA dinged the University of North Carolina with a failure to monitor social media. Now, in their case, it’s related to player usage, but the overall spirit of the obligation to monitor social media includes a need to monitor coaches, boosters, and even fans. In 2009, Duke University contacted the owner of a Facebook page aimed at convincing John Wall to come to Duke and demanded that the site be removed. As explained by a 2009 Chronicle article, the NCAA includes fans, boosters, staff, students, etc. as “representatives of the institution’s athletics interests”, which is the key piece allowing jurisdiction over such fan-sites. In theory, it’s a fantastic piece of legislature. It’s difficult to police, but that’s not the NCAA’s concern – that onus falls on the shoulders of compliance departments across the country. However, though the intent and the approach is solid, there are three glaring issues that come to the forefront immediately. What is defined as a “contact”, how does a compliance officer and/or the NCAA know that a fan of a school is REALLY a fan of that school, and what happens to the school-specific recruiting writers? Where do they fall in to this?
We’ve made fun of the re-tweet sensation, but in recruiting it almost happens in reverse. A high school basketball superstar opens a Twitter account and wants to increase his followers to beat out his rivals in order to show who the more popular recruit is. He’ll tweet something like “I need to get my followers up. Who wants to help?” Minutes later, a fan will re-tweet, “Hey Duke fans, follow this guy. He’s a big time player in the class of 2013.” That, by definition, is an improper contact from a fan to a recruit. While I’m sure most would agree that’s taking it a bit too far, would a simple re-tweet be considered a contact? It’s documented, and players can look to see who re-tweeted their messages. Could that be considered a “contact”? Could a simple add be considered one as well?
It’s certainly okay for the national recruiting writers who have no ties to any specific school to follow and to communicate with players on Twitter. It’s their job, and it’s not close to violating any rules at all. But here’s a scenario for you … I follow Jason Jordan of ESPN, and he’s one of my favorite follows on Twitter because of his rapport with the recruits. Jason may tweet something about a Duke recruit, using his Twitter handle in place of his actual name. If I respond to Jason’s tweet and we start a conversation about that player without removing his Twitter handle from the conversation, in theory, I have just contacted that recruit directly. Is that stepping over the line? What about the hundreds of thousands of recruiting writers out there connected to a specific school? Even on this site, for example. If one of us holds a Q&A with a recruit, is that an improper contact? Even if the content isn’t there, if none of us are asking leading questions to point out Duke’s interest, it comes down to sheer volume. If there are 12 Duke recruiting writers harmlessly interviewing a player versus 1 writer from NC State, that’s going to give off an optic of which school is more interested in the player, no? If these writers are lumped in with “representatives of the institution’s athletics interests”, which isn’t well within the realm of accuracy, this issue could rock sites like InsideCarolina.com, TheDevilsDen.com, BlueDevilNation.net, StateFansNation.com and PackPride.com. We’re talking significant financial impact to a lot of people, and potential catastrophe for writers aspiring to be the next Dave Telep by getting their feet wet on their home message boards.
And lastly, we come to my favorite aspect of all of this … the parody feeds. Let’s say I created a UNC themed account and began contacting UNC recruits painting a caricature of the culture of Tarheel nation, but did it in a way that’s it’s convincing that I’m actually a Carolina fan. I may get a sharp warning from UNC compliance, but I’m I going to listen? Of course not. And no one would ever know who I was in that situation. It’s not like UNC could contact Duke’s compliance team to make me stop, they have no idea I’m a Duke fan. I could be a State fan, a UK fan, or even a Presbyterian fan for all they know. While this is the most comical hurdle facing this new domain of NCAA compliance, it could end up being the most difficult to deal with.
In the end, it’s all about doing the right thing. If you’re a fan, don’t talk to recruits. Let your coaches do their jobs, and follow along in the background. And for crying out loud, stop asking people for re-tweets.
But please feel free to re-tweet this. I’m literally your biggest fan.
