An MGoPlea to All Michigan Fans: Do Not Harass Recruits on Twitter.
Twitter.
It's a common topic of debate on MGoBlog—is it good, is it bad, should players have them, should they now—it's been discussed thoroughly. One area that seems to be the most often discussed here is whether it's okay for fans to tweet to recruits, many of whom are juniors and sophomores. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I think it's creepy to tweet to high school kids. But on the other it seems like the recruits and players enjoy the interactions with fans, the positive ones at least.
There is one area where I'm fairly certain we all should be able to agree on though: it's not okay to tweet negative things to high school recruits or players (on Michigan or otherwise). Yet it still happens. For example this last weekend, after tweeting about his visit to Ohio State, recruit Joey Bosa (DE from Florida) made a comment about how he planned to go "up north" (to visit Michigan). This apparently angered some of the denizens of the Michigan-twitter-sphere, who proceeded to reply to him with a variety of negative comments to him.
This is not okay.
From a recruiting perspective, it's terrible to have a player think that an entire fanbase are asses and hate him for saying a short 140-character comment about how he likes a school, and be turned off because of that. From a personal perspective, this is a high school kid people are harassing, not some multi-millionaire star-athlete on a professional squad, but a regular 16, 17, or 18 year old kid.
We get all up in arms when other fan bases do it. Ohio particularly comes to mind, especially after the whole Kalis incident (I'm not trying to compare the magnitude Bosa twitter-incident with the Kalis backlash after he decommitted from Ohio, I still think they were markedly different). We like to think that Michigan fans are above that kind of thing, and the vast majority of us are, but all sides say stupid things, even our fans.
I know the vast majority of people here never have contacted recruits via twitter or facebook or other social networking uses, and the out of the few that do, most of them are likely positive messages of support to the players who have committed or are be recruited. And that is okay, it might be a little odd to tweet at a 17 year old, but if you say good things no real problems can come from it. However, to the few who do say negative things to recruits or players (whether for Michigan or any other team), I—and the rest of the Michigan fan community—implore you to stop. It makes us all look bad.
Other fan bases may do it, and so be it, we can't control what other fans say and think. But for a fan base who prides themselves on being mature and respectful, this is completely unacceptable. We always talk about whether or not players should think before they tweet, but the exact same goes for the fans.
I have been extremely disapointed with a select few of the Michigan fan base recently. There are literally hundreds of Michgan fans that add recruits on facebook and twitter. There are hundreds more that talk trash and interact with recruits. This is a major problem.
There is also a facebook group that seems to be a collection of idiot fans that start rumors and make our fanebase look as bad as it gets when it comes to how they talk about recruits and other teams.
Personally, I think that the only instance in which it is okay for a grown-ass man to be tweeting to a 16 year-old is if you're related to the kid.
wtf is a twitter
How does someone interact with a recruit on Twitter and NOT feel creepy? Going up to a player if you see him while he is in the midst of his career at Michigan is one thing, but recruits is a whole new ball game.
It's just the way it is though. To be honest, most Michigan fans are not idiots (or dumbass rednecks), so the possibility of a negative outcome of fan interaction is low. Whereas Ohio State? An SEC school? Well...you catch my drift.
The real problem is that Twitter sucks.
Yes it's certainly best if we don't contact recruits on twitter and call them, but let's not act like we have any real chance with Bosa and this is negatively impacting our recruitment of him. He's ohio all the way and the bs rivals article about us being in his top two is just urbs back to his old tricks.
You're missing the point. Just because we don't have a realistic shot at a kid doesn't mean we can pass off all the negative things our fan base said to him.
It makes our fan base look bad and hurts the perception of our fans amongst recruits, which negatively affects our recruiting obviously. We all should refrain from contacting recruits. Nothing good ever comes of it. I was just making the small point that bosa isn't coming here tweets or not.
Morans
* Who appointed "boogs" (the OP ... *sorry*, OP) as the moral guardian of MGoBlog?
* What prompted the long-winded post at 12:35?
* Why I am responding at 2 in the morning? (I'm on call, that's why.)
For 90+% of MGoBlog users, the OP is stating the obvious. S/he might have more impact posting here:
I also find it annoying when people beg players for retweets, or when national columnists think people give a shit about what kind of microwave popcorn they're having.
but you're preaching to the converted here. I would doubt very much if this post is ever read by anyone who practices what you are speaking about in your post because when past posters have mentioned that they contact recruits they get relentlessly hammered and eventually just stop coming around.
I think the people on this blog (at least for the most part) all agree with what you wrote and aren't the types to be tweeting kids, but I could be wrong. Hopefully if there are any that frequent this blog they read this post and stop, because I don't think there is any excuse for doing, whether you are the same age, sex ethnic background etc...if you don't know the player personally stop contacting them! That's how I see it anyway.
I don't know why anyone would even follow recruits on Twitter,, let alone Facebook. Believe me, if they tweet anything interesting or relevant, someone like Ace or TVH will retweet it. Otherwise, you're looking in on a teenager's inside jokes with his friends.
April 16th, 2012 at 10:04 AM ^
This. Every large fanbase has bloggers who retweet relevant recruit posts. Following a 17 year old kid just because he may consider your school is weird. Bashing a kid because he likes a rival school more is just pathetic. And this includes the nagging that some Buckeye fans did to Kalis when he flipped (unacceptable and stupid). They're 17 year old kids who have daily concerns of "who should I ask to prom", "how do I do this Geometry problem", and "heh heh that guy said boob".
I'm not sure if anyone noticed last night but the Buckeye board did a very similar thing to Treadwell. Said something along the lines of "All you Buckeys can unfollow LaQuon Treadwell because he seems to be ALL Michigan." All Treadwell could do was shake his head.
Buckeye Board came right out with an immediate appology. I'm hoping a little damage was done. But completely agree we shouldn't be tweeting or negatively tweeting recruits.
Childish ? Yes, but clearly we're not dealing with anyone who deserves to be treated like an adult.
Now that's an idea.
I like it when S Morris retweets moron Buckeye fans. Nothing says you're scared as a fan more than negatively tweeting a 17 year old kid.
It is beyond pathetic for adult fans to hassle a high school kid.
I'm not sure how much classier it is to tweet negative crap to players, either. If you just can't resist the urge to share helpful insights like "Hey @player you effing sucked today on the field" you should turn off your phone, bend over, and cram it up your netherparts.
I'm too old and out of touch to twitter. I refuse to compulsively use my phone that way. And I can't even conceive of tweeting or facebooking a recruit. (unless I happen to know the kid's folks.) To each his own.
But I'm all for cutting down on being rude and crude and mean and sarcastic. I think part of the problem is the difficulty in reading tone via text. When you're with friends in person, you can afford to tease and to mock, because they can understand. In fact, if someone knows you, a comment on social media is less likely to be misunderstood. But when you are tweeting a total stranger, it is a lot harder to judge and read intent and tone.
To cut to the chase, I can't see where it ever makes sense to ever tweet something rude or insulting or cutting or crude to a potential recruit.
I do know there are many high school age kids on mgoblog, and I get that twitter is part of your universe, and that there are generational issues here. But just because you're younger, and anonymous, doesn't give you license for being a jerk.
Oh, and I also think it is a stupid idea to pose as an Ohio or MSU fan and post things that try to make Ohio and MSU fans look like idiots. Anyone with that kind of time and obsession needs to get a grip and get a life.
Jesus this has to be the 100th thread about Twitter/Facebook stalking thats been put on the board in the past year.
Get over it, social media is here to stay, EVERY fanbase has idiots that will continue to message recruits (more than likely Mgouser's will not be doing this) and more specifically you will have rival fans constantly on these kids claiming to be Mich/Ohio/MSU fans and lobbing bombs at them to make 1 school look bad.
Posts like these have become the new RR hate/defend/was our coach, now @ Arizona arguments where we hash over the same dam* points ev-er-y-time.
> 1 Million fan tweets.
Put me in the 'just don't do it, ever' group.
If you have to explain to someone that they shouldn't be a dicknose to a highschool kid then they probably aren't going to get the point that you shouldn't be a dicknose to a highschool kid.
April 16th, 2012 at 10:18 AM ^
Asshats will be asshats. I don't see the people making negative comments on twitter as being any different than the people that rant on the radio, turn every comment section into a toxic mess or scream obscenity-laced epithets from the stands. I would be just as willing to bet that the person who won't scream at a student from the stands isn't likely to do it via a keyboard.
April 16th, 2012 at 10:10 AM ^
You're right, don't use Twitter to contact a recruit. That's tacky. Instead, find his address and pay him a visit! The Michigan Difference (TM)!
Honestly, I don't care how old you are, there is never any reason to contact a recruit for any reason, unless you know the guy personally. This includes negative or positive. It's one thing to send tweets to celebs or public figures that you do not know personally. But a recruit is not a public figure. It's not the whole creepiness factor of being 30 years older than the kid that is the problem. It's the fact that by sending them responses, you are turning them into public figures.
but it will fall on deaf ears in the same way that asking people to not make amazingly classless comments about a player on another team taking somebody to the prom will. Dudeness is right: dicknoses will be dicknoses. They're proud of that fact.
You really can't help (no one is going to Michigan because of your witty tweet..."hey, I didn't like the campus, the academics, the coaches, the other players, the girls...but damn, can their fanbase TWEET!"...and you're more likely to screw things up. Or commit a violation. Or just look creepy. They don't care. And when you tweet them, you're not making it about them, you're making it about you. Don't.
For example this last weekend, after tweeting about his visit to Ohio State, recruit Joey Bosa (DE from Florida) made a comment about how he planned to go "up north" (to visit Michigan). This apparently angered some of the denizens of the Michigan-twitter-sphere, who proceeded to reply to him with a variety of negative comments to him.
I don't even understand what could be offensive about that. Were our fans trying to pretend that Michigan isn't north of Florida?
Or like the racist tweets sent by michigan fans after Brionte Dunn chose OSU.