No more Peewee Pipkins Twitter?

Submitted by TexanGOBLUE on

I recently have been getting into twitter and I was looking for players to follow. I noticed a while ago Ondre Pipkins has some great tweets. I can't seem to find him and it looks like he doesnt have an account anymore. Anyone have any insight to this and if maybe he got into trouble with twitter? I know he made it very clear he wasn't happy with Josh Garnett lying to him, but that is all I can remember as of most recently. Slow recruiting day...

[EDIT]: I found this incase anyone is looking to follow Michigan football players:

http://www.maizepages.com/p/wolverines-on-twitter_23.html

GBOD79

March 14th, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^

All Michigan players have been advised to be careful on twitter and Ondre may have decided just to delete his. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

flwolverine

March 14th, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^

In an interview with Hoke's Mad Magicians he gave the reason why he was staying off of twitter.

"So where’ve you been? The fans wanna know!

 
Ondre: Lately I’m just focusing on midterms and my last few tests. Working out, trying to get in shape and things like that. I’ll be off [of Twitter] for a little while, hopefully I’ll be back sooner than expected."
 

Mr. Yost

March 14th, 2012 at 11:32 AM ^

Unless you know them, can we PLEASE leave players and ESPECIALLY recruits alone? These are still kids/young adults. They shouldn't be stalked/bothered/harrassed just because they can run really fast or hit really hard. Let's especially stop with the #twitterstalking of recruits, that is out of control.

(note: this is not a shot at the OP...I know some people just like to follow players and they don't communicate...just in general.

I wish I was the twitter police, I'd say no following or communicating with recruits, period. You may follow current players, but you can't communicate or subtweet, retweet, hightweet or lowtweet with them (unless you know them). If they're pros or celebs...have at it).

unWavering

March 14th, 2012 at 11:39 AM ^

So there's something wrong with following public twitter accounts?  Most of these kids created twitter accounts because they want to be followed.

The thing is that Twitter is made to be public, and people aren't doing anything wrong by following people of interest to them.  In this case, people of interest include athletes who could potentially play for your favorite football team.  The problem occurs when you harrass someone on Twitter, but most people don't do this.  You can't ban everyone from following athletes just because some jackwad wants to harrass a kid on Twitter. You aren't the twitter police, so excuse me if I don't GAF what you want me to do.  

By the way, I don't even own a Twitter account, I just find it extremely annoying when people try to dictate what others should do.

 

Mr. Yost

March 14th, 2012 at 11:46 AM ^

I would bet that many HS Players do not want to be followed, harrassed, etc. by the public. They just want to be in high school!

That's all I'm saying. Why should Ty Issac or Sally Sue not get to be a part of Facebook or Twitter like their HS Classmates and enjoying being 17 just because they can play sports well and some fans of another school want them to come to their school?

I say Issac because there is actually a thread on another board about how he's tired of fans "recruiting" him to their school. He just wants to be a kid and communicate with his classmates using social media. However, he gets harrassed because he's good at football.

THAT'S my point. To me, that's not fair. He's not doing anything wrong. He's not asking for the attention, he just wants to be a kid and talk to his classmates and friends.

I see it both ways, hopefully some of you guys can as well.

unWavering

March 14th, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^

Facebook =/= Twitter.  In my opinion, if you create a public Twitter account, you are open to the fact that anyone can follow you and read your tweets.  If you don't want people doing this, make the account private.  You're right in that nobody wants to be harrassed, and that shouldn't happen, but if you don't want to be followed, don't create a means for people to do so.  

An athlete complaining about harrassment on Twitter is kind of like a celebrity saying that they hate the paparazzi all the while broadcasting a feed of their every day life.

jdon

March 14th, 2012 at 1:51 PM ^

I don't think you do see it both ways and your repeated posts just highlight that...

 

For me, I think calling an 18 year old, or following ones tweets, or facebook, or whatever is creepy.  when I was in college I was a myspace friend with sam mcguffie, then I graduated and I cut it off (that was years ago)...  

 

However, if others don't think its creepy, or they want to make money/notoriety by conversing/following recruits good for them; ultimately if pipkens or morris or whomever don't want to be 'stalked' on twitter they can limit their followers, or block their facebook.  I don't see it as a big deal.

 

To tell others what they can and can't do... that is a big deal in my book.

love,

jdon

 

Tater

March 14th, 2012 at 11:46 AM ^

Sorry, "Mr Y," but when a player becomes a four or five star recruit and signs an LOI to a school like Michigan, he becomes a celebrity.  If they don't want to be followed, all they have to do is keep their accounts private.  Judging from some of the reaction, it looks like saying "creepy" to any fan who follows a celeb under 18 isn't an automatic upvote anymore.  

The bottom line: if a player wants to be outgoing and have a twitter account accessible by millions, he becomes an entertainer.  While I don't choose to be entertained in that manner, except by reading the "best of" right here on mgb, I have no problem with those who do.  

As for the "twitter police:" puh-leeze.  The close call with SOPA was bad enough.

 

Mr. Yost

March 14th, 2012 at 11:50 AM ^

So because I'm a 4-5* recruit...I'm a celebrity and thus you can stalk, harrass or recruit me?

That is a terrible argument.

Now sure, there are some guys that LOVE the attention, and for those guys, I have no sympathy for them if it starts to both them.

However, not every 4-5* recruit wants his tweets plastered on messages boards. Some of the guys and girls just want to be high school students and talk to their friends like other high school students. They're not asking for any more attention than the 4-5* level drama student.

Like I said above, I see it both ways...I hope you do as well. But just because a 17 year old can run fast or hit harder and is being recruited by top universities doesn't mean "okay, now I can talk to this kid I don't even know and try to recruit him to my favorite school."

mgowill

March 14th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^

There is a huge difference between following and stalking.  There are also very good uses of twitter - Mike Martin had some great photos from a public event against bullying this weekend.  He put it there for the public to look at.  It added to his message and it reached a larger audience by him doing so.  twitter is not all evil.

Mr. Yost

March 14th, 2012 at 12:46 PM ^

This isn't someone ranting about technology and social media.

I choose not to use twitter, but I have a facebook and it DEFINITELY can be used for good.

So please don't exaggerate and act like I'm calling it "evil" or anything of the sort. I know guys do good with it.

With that said...

Do you not see a problem with Ty Issac or other players just wanting to use Twitter like their high school classmates and hating that they're being stalked and recruited by fans?

Maybe you think that is acceptable. Me? I do not. And that's where we'd have to agree to disagree.

I've said it 3 times now, I see both sides of it. However, it seems that most of you only see one. Maybe you all do think it's fine to contact, stalk, recruit HS athletes that do not have any interest in receiving that type of attention.

mgowill

March 14th, 2012 at 2:41 PM ^

A few things worth noting

  • twitter has a public and private setting.  If the public isn't what you are interested in, then use the private one.  All your complaints about twitter are answered with that one statement.
  • Facebook is not like twitter.  Saying you have a Facebook account does not mean you understand how twitter works.  Facebook is you as a person, twitter is you as your thoughts.
  • Saying that anyone who disagrees with your social media police statement is a stalker does not pass the logic test.  You're stretching for an insult and labeling.

And now, since I'm on lunch I can type this out.  You got your rant, now it's my turn.

Benefits of twitter you ask?  Here's some benefits of twitter -

  • I have enjoyed reading Shane Morris on twitter.  The guy loves U-M and is very proud.  He does know the recruits and he shares their thought through retweets.  It is awesome to see these young players so fired up about our program.  A lot of the recruits have begun to bond as teammates before they have set foot on campus as a player.  This is good for us.  Would I ever think about communicating with Shane or any other recruit on twitter?  Nope.  I don't know them.  The thought doesn't even cross my mind.
  • I love reading stuff that Mike Martin posts.  From his efforts in Ann Arbor for the community, to his hilarious video of Kevin Koger snoring.  He is a real human being and a great Wolverine.  I will continue to follow him as he gets drafted and begins his career in the NFL.  He will be another great representative of Michigan in the world, and I look forward to reading about his success.   
  • Angelique Chengelis really gets twitter and makes an awesome use of it.  Her feed is excellent.  She shares breaking news, retweets funny stuff from players, has links to news articles, and shares her own thoughts as well.
  • I also get a lot of value for something that costs me zero dollars.  That is worth mentioning.

The negatives, you say?  Ah, yes - the negatives...

So now we're going to talk about a guy.  We shall call him the "lowest common denominator guy."   He is the bottom of the barrel.  The imaginary guy that you keep referring to.  He's the idiot who can't keep social graces in tact and not be a stalker or a creep, and for his behaviour you would take away from my free service that I so enjoy.  Because some recruit uses foul language and embarrasses himself, I lose all my benefits.  Sigh...I guess it should be expected that because a minority of people misuse a service, that no one should have that service.  I say boo.  I'm tired of giving things up because of "lowest common denominator guy."  I could go on, but I think we have all given things up because of the aforementioned idiot.  So go ahead you, Mr. Social Police you, take away something else I enjoy because we all know that a few bad apples means the whole basket is bad...

Mr. Yost

March 15th, 2012 at 9:17 AM ^

Do you have a problem with Ty Issac and other Michigan recruits openly complaining, being sick of, growing tired of college football fans harrassing them, recruiting them, etc.?

No one has answered that. I'm just curious...maybe you all don't see an issue. death by trident - that was a nice long dissertation, do you seen any issues with that? What if you were a coach - would you see any issues with that?

Wolverman

March 14th, 2012 at 12:01 PM ^

 I don't personally follow recruits on twitter but, I had read several interviews some on tremendous where the recruits love being followed on twitter by fans. If the players like it and even encourage it then seriously who are you to condem it. Twitter is just a double edged sword , it removes the seperation between fans and the stars , athletes , politician , kings or whatever they find interesting.

 A little self control is needed but a lot of folks just don't have it.

Mr. Brownstone

March 14th, 2012 at 11:33 AM ^

Who ever decided to shut it down, I applaud them. Although sometimes funny, I questioned many of his tweets on the classiness of them. I am more old school and believe the smack talk should be done on the field.

strick23

March 14th, 2012 at 11:40 AM ^

great news!  Hopefully the rest of the team follows his lead!  Absolutely no need for it!  Like Hoke says: "Why do I need to log into twitter and let the whole world know that I'm runnin to Mcdonalds to grab a cheeseburger?"

TexanGOBLUE

March 14th, 2012 at 11:46 AM ^

I really do think the majority of people just like to read what players have to say. Some of the kids that haven't signed a LOI, but have committed sometimes give tidbits of information in regards to other recruits. Shane Morris is good guy to follow since he is the face of Michigan recruiting. Then, there is those other athletes that just twitter garbage like Yurri Wright. I do believe Joe Bolden submitted a cool tweet with a picture of his helmet just recently. Who wouldn't think that was cool?

neoavatara

March 14th, 2012 at 12:02 PM ^

If the coaches didn't impress this upon them.  I have heard of no official rule, like Urban did at Ohio, but it is smarter to avoid the whole issue. 

Mr. Blue

March 14th, 2012 at 12:13 PM ^

Twitter is a novel way to present oneself in public, but it is set up for instant unmeasured release. This means people are going to screw up on it, and each of these kids is still a few years away from having a fully settled (adult) frontal cortex. Twitter is a recipe for trouble here.

mgowill

March 14th, 2012 at 12:30 PM ^

Maybe that's my problem - my frontal cortex never settled.  Maybe this is why I use my router name as a social media device.  I think my neighbors enjoy it as well.  We are all currently having a great argument about where Manning will land.

My router is currently named Arizona [book it]

LB

March 14th, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^

older people and a couple of adults a close glimpse into young minds, which just don't think the same way or even necessarily hold the same values or beliefs.

Roachgoblue

March 14th, 2012 at 1:23 PM ^

He has some nasty tweets with n bombs. I wouldn't be surprised to see him at Colorado soon.

Sione's Flow

March 14th, 2012 at 1:27 PM ^

Twitter imho is trouble now and it could only get worse down the road ala Yuri Wright.  Personally I think Urban Meyer made a smart move, (gonna have to gargle with Listerine after that statement), heading it off as soon as he got there.  Look at the quality of people Hoke and his staff recruit and Twitter has caused headaches for UM.  

Skiptoomylou22

March 14th, 2012 at 4:41 PM ^

I'm not calling him a big mouth, he just didn't have much of a filter on twitter. With that said i still love his personality. It's probably for the best though. Remember the Denard(e)X problem?

Section 1

March 15th, 2012 at 10:17 AM ^

... is because there have been so many cases of athletes (and others!) writing and doing so many stupid things.

I am okay with not blaming the medium, and with not making any broad all-inclusive rules; all I ask is that when a player is called out for writing or doing something collossally stupid, don't blame anybody else.  I see it all of the time; players claiming that their Twitter accounts were set to "private," or that they somehow didn't intend their messages to go public.  And that people should not be butting into 'private tweets.'  Say what?  You send a message to 10 or 20 or 50 of your friends, "private" setting or not, and you don't intend for that to be public?  What you say is legally private, and cannot be disclosed by law, only when you are speaking alone to your attorney, your clergyman or your spouse.  Otherwise, be carfeul of what you say and to whom you say it, and don't complain about any results.