Social Media and Athletes

I saw a tweet the other day from a high school student-athlete looking to play collegiate sports that tweeted something that had vulgar language in it. I began to reflect on athletes on social media and how much it can affect them. High schoolers don't even realize how much one tweet that contains a bad word or a sexual image can truly change their future. I've learned through my journey of recruitment that college coaches are constantly checking social media accounts of their potential future athletes. Anyone that is looking at their school for sports is being monitored constantly for inappropriate posts on social media. As soon as college coaches see this, they cross them off their list. They stop considering them because they don't want someone like that as a reflection of their program. I sometimes wonder if these high schoolers even realize that these posts that they are putting on their social media platforms can affect their future collegiate careers and even their future careers. When I was being recruited, I really watched what I put on social media; posts, comments, tweets, etc. I monitored it all and had my friends watch for me as well because they knew how important it was for me to get recruited. I wish some athletes in high school would take the time to recognize this and really start to pay attention to the "funny" things they are putting on social media. It's not worth it at the end of the day.