Social Media
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Centre for Sport and Law
www.sportlaw.ca
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VISION
“Our vision is to help you achieve yours”
MISSION
“We educate, advise, consult, facilitate and
innovate to help organizations achieve
their full potential”
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Some clients
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Outline
What is social media? (Brief!)
Social media for organizations
Defamation, libel, privacy
Social media in the coach-athlete
relationship
Communication + knowing your athlete
Policies? Guidelines?
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Social media is huge
What is social media?
(Briefly!)
 Computer-mediated communication (CMC)
 Text-messaging and instant-messaging too!
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Social media is huge
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The main ones (for today)
 Facebook
Flickr 
 YouTube
Twitter 
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The “power” of social media
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The “power” of social media
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The “power” of social media
“If our organization’s message could
be shared across hundreds of social
media websites… then countless
people would hear our message!”
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“Power”
“Power”
Social media use should be
part of your strategy
Most organizations have a
communications or strategy
document.
How does your organization’s
strategy involve social media?
(It is okay if it doesn’t !)
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Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s
plan for social media
Involves
#1 – an objective (expand core
audience)
#2 – a strategy (utilize social
networking opportunities)
#3 – an audience (everyone online)
#4 – tools & tactics (facebook, blog)
#5 – timeline (asap)
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Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s
plan for social media
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Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s
plan for social media
References to social media use can be found
throughout Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s
communications strategy
Raising awareness of athletes
Communicating with internal stakeholders
Promote teams
But there is more that could be done…
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What are some of the things our
organization wants to do – or do better?
Attract new members
Distribute information
Announce results
-- ?
-- ?
-- ?
How can social media help our
organization do these things?
StatusWheel: An Organization’s
Social Media Presence
No Presence
Dead
Earning
Contributing
Lost
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StatusWheel: An Organization’s
Social Media Presence
No Presence
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StatusWheel: An Organization’s
Social Media Presence
Dead: quit, no people, no dedication
Lost: can’t figure out a purpose, no
consistency, hope something helps
Contributing: useful additions, decent
consistency, no specific strategy for return
Earning: valuable additions, frequent
interactions, specific strategy with clear
results
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Five Steps Toward Earning
#1 - Dedicated person
Strong communicator
Reflects on organization
#2 - Multiple-media initiatives (Content !)
- A relevant blog
- Twitter
- Facebook
- YouTube / Flickr
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Five Steps Toward Earning
#3 - Goals/objectives in mind
On message
Know your role
#4 - Freedom to be reflexive within
organization’s social media policy for internal
use
Empower employee
Know the law
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Five Steps Toward Earning
#5 - What do results look like?
Engagement
Active vs. Passive
Not the number of ‘followers’ or
‘friends’!
New business
Intangible connections to the organization
Accomplishing objectives
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The LAW
Defamation
Libel
Privacy
In pictures and videos
CONSENT!
On Facebook?
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The LAW - Defamation
Defamation
 Defamation is considered to be false and derogatory
remarks about a person that serve to discredit his or her
character and lower his or her standing in the eyes of a
reasonably-thinking person.
 Defamation common law protects reputation – not
feelings
 Each province has different laws about defamation –
written (libel) and oral (slander)
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The LAW - Defamation
Defamation
 The defamatory remarks are false and malicious
 The person’s actual reputation has been defamed – not
the alleged reputation the person feels he or she enjoys
 The defamatory remarks are clearly aimed at the person
and not to broad group that may include the person
 The defamatory remarks are hurtful (a judge will decide)
 The defamatory remarks are conveyed to a third person
and, for libel, they are published.
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The LAW – Defamation Examples
Defamation examples
 Councilor Bob Smith steals money from the City of Toronto
 Rogers Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs
 “if head referee Jennifer Fletcher hadn’t accepted the other
team’s bribe… we would have won!”
Not defamation examples
 Councilor Bob Smith has a big nose
 The Toronto Blue Jays are losers
 “if head referee Jennifer Fletcher wasn’t so bad… we would
have won!”
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The LAW – Defamation Defenses
Defamation defenses
 The defamatory remarks were accurate
 The person agrees with the remarks (by reposting them)
 The remarks were part of qualified privilege because they
were conveyed honestly and non-maliciously (e.g., a
negative but honest job reference)
 The remarks were part of fair comment (i.e., they are an
honestly held opinion based on proven fact and
communicated without malice)
 Publishing an apology is not a defense – but it might help
when a judge determines damages
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The LAW – Privacy
PIPEDA
 Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
This is a federal privacy law. Provinces have their own privacy
laws as well.
 Some personal information should never be published (detailed
contact info, SIN, credit card number) but other personal
information requires consent before publishing (names, pictures,
videos)
 Information collected must be used for the purpose(s) it was
collected. There must be informed consent.
 Parental consent is required for use of the personal information of
minors
The LAW – Privacy
CONSENT
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PIPEDA
 'Participating in <org> competitions means that the athlete may be
filmed or photographed by <org> or its representatives during
competition or events incidental to competition. Agreeing to participate
in <org> tournaments means that these videos or images of the athlete
may be used and published by <org> for its own purposes (including but
not limited to: pictures on the <org> website, pictures in <org>
publications, videos in rules clinics and workshops, and videos on the
<org> website and/or YouTube channel) with the consent of the athlete
and/or the consent of athlete's parent or legal guardian (if the athlete is
younger than 18 years old) and without payment to the athlete. Pictures
and/or videos created in this manner remain the property of <org>. The
athlete and/or the athlete's parent or legal guardian (if the athlete is
younger than 18 years old) may revoke this consent at any time.'
The LAW – Privacy
On Facebook… ?
I coach a team of 12 athletes.
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Do I need
permission from all of them to publish a team
photo on my personal Facebook page?
Would it be different if the athletes were
eight-years-old?
Can my organization make me remove the
picture?
Is my Facebook profile my private space?
The LAW – Privacy
On Facebook… ?
 Facebook, and twitter and everything social media, isn’t
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completely regulated yet. That’s one reason why we hear
so much about lawsuits in the news relating to social media.
It’s topical and not well-defined.
 People aren’t sure of the boundaries and the ‘best practices’
for use are evolving
 Be wary of anyone who wants to set rules and regulations
restricting or limiting contact on social media. This person
likely has a limited knowledge of social media and is not sure
how to manage any of the perceived ‘dangers’ of the media.
A much better process is education and empowerment.
Social Media in the CoachAthlete Relationship
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Communication
CMC
Text
IM
Facebook / Twitter
Can coaches and athlete be friends on
Facebook?
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Communication
Martens, R. (1987). Coaches guide to sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
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Communication
Communication
Face-to-face
Telephone
Email
Text message
Instant message / BBM
Facebook (chat, wall post, message)
Issues with Computer-Mediated
Communication (CMC)
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Clarity
“You looked really good out there today.”
Role Ambiguity and Credibility
“One of the boys”
Hyperpersonal
Say things online that you would not normally
say face-to-face. There is no ‘sober second
thought’.
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Knowing your athletes
“[There is nothing] more important for coaches than to understand their
athletes” (Vealy, 2005, p. 52).
“High levels of closeness (e.g., like, trust, respect) tend to promote
exchanges of information, open channels of communication and
disclosure” (Jowett & Poczwardowski, 2007, p. 21).
“The perceived dangers of a ‘non-friendship’ coach-athlete relationship is
that it would be so cold and formal that coaches would not be able to
coach effectively” (Bergmann Drewe, 2002, p. 178).
Bergmann Drewe, S. (2002). The coach-athlete relationship: How close is too close?
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 29, 174-181.
Jowett, S., & Poczwardowski, A. (2007). Understanding the coach-athlete relationship. In
S. Jowett & D. Lavallee (Eds.), Social Psychology in Sport (pp. 3-14). Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics.
Vealey, R.S. (2005). Coaching for the inner edge. Morgentown, WV: Fitness Information
Technology.
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Knowing your athletes
How better to know your athletes than to
communicate with them in the media in which they
prefer to communicate?
Do teenage athletes ever use a ‘home phone’
anymore? How would an athlete perceive a coach
who insisted on communicating via that medium?
Out of touch
Doesn’t know me – doesn’t care
Doesn’t understand my needs
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On Facebook…
Every coach should be prepared to
answer questions about their personal
guidelines when it comes to coachathlete interactions on Facebook
Every organization should address the
use of social media in their Code of
Conduct(s) for coaches (and possibly
for athletes too)
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On Facebook…
For coaches… personal guidelines
Not necessarily written
Standard and consistent
Transparent
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On Facebook…
For organizations… pertaining to
coaches and athletes
Written communication guidelines
Not policies
Empowering
 Coaches are trained and certified to be professional
Educational
On Facebook… the biggest
challenge
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Viewing illegal or irresponsible conduct
If parents look the other way… can
coaches? Should coaches?
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Authority Relationships
Employer-employee relationship
Parent-child relationship
Teacher-student relationship
Generational divide
Worldview differences
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Policies – Ban Facebook?
If we are worried about inappropriate coachathlete behaviour… then punish the
behaviour… don’t blame the medium.
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Policies –
Set by organizations – for coaches and athletes ?
 Making rules about communication is not the same as
making rules about drug use, competition structures, or
athlete transfer agreements.
 Imagine telling your coaches that they can’t call an
athlete after 9:00pm, on Sundays, or on the athlete’s
cell phone.
 Illegitimate policies would be immediately rejected by
the people whose activity you are trying to restrict.
 Especially since ‘social media’ is still evolving. A ‘social
media policy’ would need to be updated at every board
meeting.
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Sample guidelines for coaches
 Be consistent in your use of Facebook with athletes.
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If you accept one
athlete as your Facebook friend – you must accept all of your athletes
Don’t pressure athletes into befriending you on Facebook
Interact with your athlete when invited to do so; for example by replying to
an athlete’s comments on your personal pictures
Limit initiating contact on Facebook. Limit wall posts. Avoid commenting
on an athlete’s personal pictures.
Ensure that parents are aware that some coach-athlete interactions may
take place on Facebook, by texting, or by instant messaging.
Parents may want to interact with you via these media as well.
Team information should not be distributed on, or limited to, Facebook.
Remember – coaches and athletes are not “friends” - even if Facebook
says that you are
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Appearances
“If I wave to the kids on the bus first, they
would think I’m a pervert. But if they
wave to me first, then it’s OK for me to
wave back” (Diaz, 2008).
Diaz, J. (2008). Facebook’s squirmy chapter. Retrieved May 29, 2008 from the Boston Globe website
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/04/16/facebooks_squirmy_chapter/
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Actions
Decide if social media use fits into your
organization’s strategy
What do results look like?
Dedicate someone to social media
With this person’s input, create a basic
social media policy for internal use
Empower this person to be reflexive, to
be reactive, and to take initiative
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Actions
Find out how your coaches and athletes are
using computer-mediated communication in
their interactions
Find out how coaches and athletes would
prefer to interact
Ensure that coaches understand the
possibility of hyperpersonal communication
Create guidelines for coaches’ use
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End
Questions ?
Kevin Lawrie – [email protected]
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