Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
The University of Maine’s Athletic Department is taking a closer look at what student athletes post on the Web.
Sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Badjocks and Thedirty are prime suspects for posting pictures or comments that could harm the university’s image.
Students all over the country get a suspension or lose their positions on university teams because of comments posted on the Web. A watchdog Web service called YouDiligence is a program designed to look for such comments. UMaine Athletic Director Blake James, is considering adding it to the budget.
YouDiligence is a service that allows parents, or in this case the athletic director, to effectively search online social networking activity. James would receive an e-mail when selected words from certain categories are noted on Facebook or MySpace if he uses the program.
Troy Barnies, a second-year basketball player at the university, said he doesn’t like it.
“We should be able to do what we want on the Internet without being spied on,” Barnies said.
James suggested that it is used as an educational tool.
“Kids put something up at a moments notice without thinking about it. [I don't] see it as an invasion of privacy,” James said. He noted student athletes at UMaine and most other schools usually sign a code of conduct.
Gabrielle Finger, a second-year student, feels it’s a bit excessive and obsessive.
“If athletes are going to be targeted this way then so should professors. It’s a little bit overboard,” Finger said.
In November, soon after Barack Obama won the presidential election, a student athlete from the University of Texas posted a racist comment on Facebook, according to the Boston Globe. He said, “I received it as a text message from an acquaintance and immaturely put it up on Facebook in the light of the election.” The comment cost him his position on the team. A surveilance program might prevent problems like this.
Desmond Randall, a third-year football player at UMaine, agreed that it is “overboard.”
“We are online to interact and joke with friends. We feel we can say what we want because it’s to our close friends. This is just setting athletes up for bad exposure,” Randall said.
According to the YouDiligence Web site, the company has “a variety of high-profile clients from the NCAA, including many Division One athletic programs.”
