Don't tweet at recruits, say stupid things about recruits, stalk recruits
On occasion, I will wander over to Eleven Warriors, largely because they often have something or other about Michigan. There is a decent article by Ramzy Nasrallah about the plague of fans who personally tweet at recruits.
LINK: The Worst of Us: Fans Who Tweet at Amateur Athletes.
This article is a followup to a previous article he wrote on the same topic.
LINK: 11W Etiquette: Following Recruiting without being an Asshole.
Inside the article, Ramzy highlights at least one Ohio State fan who abuses twitter, with the handle Laostar7. Ramzy writes,
Don't get too upset with Laostar7. There are hundreds of Laostar7s. Rather than taking a flamethrower to Ohio State's many intrusive sports enthusiasts I chose to showcase only one. Every fan base has a sparkling collection of Laostar7s. The numbers of members enlisted in these brave militias vary by school.
I hope the number of Michigan fans doing this is slim. But earlier in the article, there is reference to at least one Michigan fan who uses twitter to contact Ahmir Mitchell, among others: John Peters.
LINK: John Peters.
Reading Ramzy's article, and then following the link to @John_Peterz and to Laostar7 is disturbing. And it reminds me why I have zero interest in twitter. Ok, there is a use to twitter, but it isn't for me. Regardless of whether you tweet or not, heed Brian and Ace and Seth and Ramzy, and have NOTHING to do with EVER contacting / tweeting / insulting / calling / talking to a recruit you don't have a prior personal connection to. It is wrong, an invasion of personal space, counterproductive, and for those of us over 30, downright creepy.
Oh, that happened to you too?
Sane, rational people wouldn't do this at all and crazy, obsessed guys who would do this wouldn't take your advice
I couldn't agree more. But Ramzy says it best:
tweeting at strangers and telling them what you would like them to do with their lives is creepy. Always. There are no exceptions to this rule, and those who break it are categorically assholes.
"There are no exceptions to this rule, and those who break it are categorically assholes."
I agree with Ramzy's opinion in this case, but I'd change it something other than "assholes." As a friend once told me, "those things actually have a purpose."
The same can't be said for creepy Twitter strangers.
They make me feel better about my life.
If you ever do, I'll follow you on Twitter.
Somehow that just seems right.
I've just never wanted to follow recruiting. I trust that the coaches will recruit good players and develop them into better players, and leave it at that. I'll learn who the players are once they are playing for Michigan.
As for the advice in the post, agreed it seems like a no-brainer... but then again I'm not on the twitters.
I follow recruiting, just like I track Yankee draft picks through their minor league system, and consider potential New York Giant draft picks. I do this because I hate surprises--I like to get a firm impression of how my team is building its roster. I just don't feel the need to contact any of the players. I really, really don't get why anyone would contact recruits for any reason, or what they think they might be accomplishing.
I'm not quite sure what you mean, Monkey House. I thought you had to have a twitter account to "follow" someone on twitter. The extent of my seeing any tweet is to read a link that is posted on mgoblog (or in this case, 11W.) Reading information that is publicly posted I guess I can live with. But contacting anyone via twitter, especially recruits, or contacting anyone via twitter, for that matter, isn't something I have any interest in doing. Let alone joining twitter, so I can follow someone.
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You think Coach Harbaugh could intro me to Lisa Turtle? I got a real thing for her.
Agree 1000%. I have no idea why people lose their minds with internet anonimity to do and say things they would never do face to face.
Also count me in as a twitter, social media non user. Seems like a total waste of time with little upside.
I've seen people who are otherwise friends in the physical world get into virtual fistfights on Facebook.
My wife believes Facebook (and Twitter and Instagram and ...) is purely evil. Judging by the behavior it seems to encourage among a not insignificant number of people, I'm not sure I disagree.
And it reminds me why I have zero interest in twitter.
I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but recruiting is such a tiny, insignificant portion of twitter, at all, not just the creeps tweeting at recruits. You may have zero interest in the medium, but to act like the only use is to be creepy to teenagers is pretty insulting to those of us who use it for the million other reasons one might use twitter. The reasons that aren't in any way connected to football at all. It's a pretty myopic view of the world to think it all exists just for the purpose of sports.
But, I had an interesting experience with Twitter last night. I got a flat tire on my National Rental Car and they seemed to have no one manning their 24/7 phone number (30+ minutes on hold). But, I was able to get in touch with someone there via Twitter. Strange world.
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To be fair, it is petty fascinating to see the array of services you can actually get through Twitter and usually faster than using, say, 800 numbers. We've used it at work to get IT help with some of our systems and we have had people report outages and other trouble to the corporate account and get help faster than through traditional channels. It's a pretty cool way to get spot assistance if you need it and most corporate accounts are manned during all the but the small hours (save for critical stuff, where you can get 24/7 help in some cases).
Perhaps the rental car didn't have a spare or a jack. Or maybe he has a physical ailment that prevents him from changing the tire.
get in the way of someone being an asshole online?
that doesn't know how to change a tire.
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I reserve all my tweeting, saying stupid things and stalking for MGoBlog contributors anyway.
Insert meme of a dirty clown standing in the doorway of a shack, with the words "Free hugs" spray painted on the front.
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I already feel weird enough following a 17 y/o kid on Twitter
As you should.
"It's just insane that grown men contact these KIDS! "
Um. . . OK?
What's wrong with this whole thing isn't that grown-ups are contacting kids. It's that the wrong grown-ups are contacting kids for the wrong reasons. If your only business with a kid is to see him wearing your school colors, STFU and GTFO. It's every bit as creepy to me if someone stalks Tom Brady to get him to play for the Jets or whatever (and not just because it's the Jets), but even though the motivations are EXACTLY the same, that's just dismissed as rabid fandom. To me, the issue here isn't age but psychopathic fandom. These people have lives; mind your own goddamn business.
Adults not talking to kids only exists in America because everyone's convinced a grown-up who even gives a kid the time of day outside a classroom is a pedophile. Kids need grown-ups. They're inexperienced, they're vulnerable, they have a lot to learn, and WANT to learn. In fact it's almost heart-breaking when I saw how lost some of them were.
I used to be fearless about age; I'd just as happily converse with someone who's 80 as 8. People were people. But I eventually stopped talking to anyone who didn't look at least in their mid-20s and it was only because I had to start protecting myself. I never once had this problem when I lived overseas. Here, now it's just the creeps who do the talking, because everyone else got tired of being treated like one.
Even if the off-the-charts phobia wasn't an issue, I still don't follow recruits not because they're in high school, but because they're people. Basic respect for others, FFS. Until they're on the roster I have absolutely no business knowing what they do, let alone tell them.
Dragonchild, I mostly agree with you. That's why I had the qualifier "prior personal connection" in the OP. It happens that beyond relatives, I have a reason to relate to quite a few teenagers and college students. Some are friends of my kids, some are kids of my friends, some I teach, some attend my church, some I see in yet another context. The point is, they're not strangers on the Internet. There are good reasons for me to be in contact, so it is reasonable to be in connection with them via social media, texting, in person, etc. My issue is contacting someone out of the blue for recruiting purposes. That's where I have a problem.
"everyone's convinced a grown-up who even gives a kid the time of day outside a classroom is a pedophile"
This doesn't happen to normal people. Maybe you should reflect on why this might be happening to you?
Well, that was a depressingly predictable response.
I thought I made it quite clear why it happened. It was a cultural adjustment. Again, it wasn't a problem when I lived overseas. People in most countries generally don't bubble-wrap their kids to the extent we do.
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When they write about the downfall of Western Civilization in future history books the first, second and third chapters will discuss the role of social media in said downfall. I see no redeeming qualities in Twitter, tumblr, et.al.
Now get off my lawn you damn kids!
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I find social media firestorms distasteful in the extreme. It forcefeeds fringe beliefs to the public and lazy, uninformed people who would not have an opinion otherwise suddenly do and add thier 2 cents, taking the focus away from where it rightfully belongs.
Social media is the devils bargain.
Now get off my lawn!
I gave ya a plus one because you made me think that in some instances, rare though they may be, social media can be a force for good.
But still get off my lawn!
I bet you were really upset when they invented the fax machine.
the telegraph.