Many prominent athletes face immense pressure due to the challenges that come with offers to play at certain colleges. These standards or expectations are laid on top of the athlete’s current responsibilities of school, friends, and family. However, these days, many athletic programs such as Michigan State, Indiana, Syracuse, etc. use social media in order to keep their prospects in line.

An athlete’s post on Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat could be the determining factor for a spot on the official roster. Due to the NCAAs change within restrictions on coach-and-student relationships (unlimited contact permitted after a student becomes a sophomore). When used properly, social media could potentially boost one’s chances as it also permits the ability to post highlight reels from games or a link to their Hudl/MaxPreps page.

In addition, students can also follow colleges they pursuit. As mentioned before, coaches tend to also look at their prospects social media as well. However, there are also many dangerous implications. Poor decisions by athletes are now shared and saved within social media. As a result, students could be suspended or denied offers. Actions and decisions hold more weight as an overwhelming amount of social media are funneling into the high school sports industry.

YouTube channels alongside news channels such as BallerVisions, NBC, CBS, and Ballislife. As more and more students become swarmed by the public they tend to search for privacy within “private or spam” accounts. Many coaches and even advisory members at the school recommend that their athletes try to involve their parents/ legal guardians into their social media accounts in order to prevent injustice activities.
Many athletes and student for the matter, are ignorant of their choices and how they’ll be perceived by the public eye. Therefore, even innocent accidents or youthful mistakes can be career ruining. Practically, social media serves young athletes as a double-edged sword. As a whole, social media provides an even platform in which student-athletes can often promote themselves at little to no cost. However, it garners a lot of attention, in which it can ironically or even have a reverse effect in which many students gain more pressure and restrictions.

As of now, social media’s benefits seem to largely outweigh the negatives. However, the presence of social media is still relatively new to the high school community of sports. No one knows where it will stand within the future, no matter how near or far. The question definitely arises many drastic, yet plausible scenarios for the future.

<Luke Kang Village Christian School 11th Grade>