Dave Goes Catfishin'
Brandon said the athletic department catfished several athletes to teach them the dangers of social networking. Very interesting.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) February 1, 2013
[10:31 AM] Wow Experience: a/s/l
[10:32 AM] Brian: um
[10:32 AM] Wow Experience: i am a hot girl
[10:32 AM] Brian: I see
[10:32 AM] Wow Experience: i would like to be your girlfriend
[10:32 AM] Brian: I'm married.
[10:33 AM] Wow Experience: but I have cancer.
[10:33 AM] Brian: This had better not be Dave Brandon again.
[10:33 AM] Wow Experience: no i am a girl
[10:34 AM] Brian: I'm not even a student at Michigan anymore, let alone a student-athlete.
[10:34 AM] Wow Experience: I have sad cancer.
[10:34 AM] Brian: Fine, fine. Send me your picture.
[10:34 AM] Wow Experience:
[10:35 AM] Brian: ...
[10:35 AM] Wow Experience: are you feeling the wow in your pants bronco
[10:36 AM] Brian: This is even more distasteful than last time.
[10:36 AM] Wow Experience: I AM NOT REAL BE CAREFUL ON THE INTERNET
[10:36 AM] Brian: what really
[10:36 AM] Wow Experience: YES
[10:36 AM] Brian: then how are you typing
[10:36 AM] Wow Experience: WHOAH
February 1st, 2013 at 1:00 PM ^
the editor of Black Shoe Diaries is on line two in 3...2...1...
February 1st, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
The whole world is way more fucked up than I could have ever imagined.
February 1st, 2013 at 1:18 PM ^
Bravo Sir. Imaginary first round is on me. In fact, imaginary drinks for everyone on me. TGIF!
February 1st, 2013 at 1:22 PM ^
this is the best thing ever.
that i saw today.
on the internet.
well, at least in the last hour, i do get around you know.
but more seriously, it is good.
February 1st, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^
I bet the Ohio State AD wished they'd thought of catfishing free tatoos to teach players the dangers of taking benefits from boosters.
February 1st, 2013 at 1:25 PM ^
February 1st, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
HI GUYS NICE TO MEET YOU ALL ;))))))))) <3
February 1st, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
Great laugh out of this one.
February 1st, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
...yo. But it turns out neither Brandon nor the AD ever catfished anyone. Instead, one of the two companies they hired to monitor student athlete social media interactions had an employee follow on Twitter and/or friend on Facebook student athletes.
This is what happened as reported by Pete Cunninghamd of A2.com.
According to Ablauf, the athletic department had 180 Communications give a presentation to the men's and women's basketball teams and the football team in the fall of 2011. A female employee of 180 Communications -- described by Brandon and Michigan coach Brady Hoke as attractive -- had friended several of the athletes on Facebook and followed them on Twitter in the weeks before the presentation to gain access to their public posts. Ablauf said the employee of 180 Communications then gathered several of the posts, some of which were directed to her, to show how easily someone could access their information and use it against them.
"She showed them things that could be misconstrued that weren’t appropriate for public consumption," Ablauf said. "It was a very powerful message of how to use media and social media."
Ablauf said the 180 Communications Inc. employee did not contact the athletes and bait them into saying anything, which is being widely reported. He said her interaction with the athletes was limited to making a friend request or following them and gathered what was public from there.
"She didn’t communicate or maintain a relationship. She asked to be liked or followed," Ablauf said. "I think people jumped to that conclusion because that's what's in the news right now with the Te'o thing and that’s inaccurate."
Ablauf said the department expanded the presentation to include every Michigan sports team in 2012 in order to get out a message about personal branding, interaction with the media and the dangers of social media.
"What we’re tryng to do at Michigan is not teach them just about their four years at Michigan. Future employers look at what they post on Facebook and Twitter," Ablauf said. "You have a lifetime to build a reputation and in a or poor tweet or post that can really hurt what you've worked for and employers can access that very easily."
Rachel Lenzi of the Toledo Blade told me in a tweet exchange that they taped the presentation and Q&A. It will be interesting to see how DAB characterized the effort in his talk and if he ever used the term Catfishing, because what they did back in 2011 was definitely not that.
February 1st, 2013 at 2:02 PM ^
Contractors! That's how you git 'er done!
February 1st, 2013 at 7:19 PM ^
February 1st, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^
This is the funniest thing I've read this year.
February 2nd, 2013 at 8:01 PM ^
What Michigan did was very smart. It is not catfishing to a) really exist, b) use your real name and c) friend someone on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. The point was to show players how easily their "friends" can spread everything they post all over the place.
It's an important lesson. The media, and this blog is as guilty as any other outlet, just gets it wrong because of inherent bias. You really cant call this blog ethical with the way it always trashes Brandon. It gets so tiresome.
The tweet that opens this thread is false. It begins and ends right there.
February 4th, 2013 at 6:02 PM ^
I think what they did was a great idea, you learn best when youve been burned, better to be burned by someone who has your best interests in mind instead of whatever the Manti mess was. I'm also happy to see Brian poke fun at it!
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