In a matter of days we have seen the fall of, not only Penn State's football team, but also the university with the oust of several administrative officials including the Senior Vice President. This has without a doubt been the most publicized and disturbing scandal to emerge from a prestigious college. The has affected, students, faculty, alumni, an entire town, and even the nation. So many unanswered question from around the nation on why and how this happened for over a decade.
Since this incident has been brought to light we have truly seen the power of social medias. I don't have a Facebook account so I don't know how the buzz has been on there. As far as Twitter goes, it has been a nonstop scandal circus online with #PSU, #PennState and #Paterno trending consecutively for three days straight after the news broke. The 3 major themes I saw reoccurring with this situation is: 1. Paterno is responsible and wrong for not going to the police. 2. He shouldn't be able to "retire after the season" they should fire him immediately and 3. the fact that a press conference is cowardly by him and Penn State. This social media has shaped this scandal like never before giving practically any and everybody the opportunity to speak out about the allegations. From celebrities like Ashton Kutcher to Joe Paterno's son, Scott Paterno, everyone has had the chance give their insight on the situation. That has shaped this scandal tremendously. With your favorite celebrity or comedian, tweeting their opinion on the scandal, numerous amounts of people's views are being shaped by what the opinions of others. Also there are countless people who are getting fed some of the wrong information from parody accounts and other misinformed individuals. This is misconstruing and doesn't help them make informed opinions about the case.
As far as power, media, and deviance goes in this scandal, we see how the power and prestige of this football team kept this heinous crimes from making it to the appropriate officials. Some where along the line, these coaches, administrators, and the athletic director thought they had enough control over Sandusky to make sure this didn't happen again or even just enough power to make this all go away without any negative limelight for Penn State. Media is the key part of this whole situation. If it weren't for media outlets such as ESPN, NBC, and CBS, the rest of the world would not have a directly insight to the aftermath that is currently taking place in State College. ESPN has literally broken down the last 10 years of Sandusky's allegations as well as his football career with PSU, alone with Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, and Gary Schultz. If it weren't for media we wouldn't have this in-depth view of what happen behind closed door at Penn State and what is happening now that those same doors have been kicked wide open. The deviance in this case is disheartening. What lengths these administrators went to, to keep the dignity of this program and this university, is astonishing to me. I mean, full on criminal activity by being accessories to child abuse and negligence I'm sure these people are mandate by the state, NCAA, or at least the univeristy. They all neglected their responsibilities as men in power. We learn that deviance in sports is, any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant social norms in sports that could give you or your team the upper hand in a sports setting. These university officials kept this information from authorities to protect their football program from penalties from the NCAA, disapproval from the community, and legal problems. Sound like deviance in sports at it's finest.
So finally, how do I see social medias for sports management? I definitely think it can be a positive and negative tool. It's positive in the aspect where we have the option of speaking up and speaking out if wanted or needed. A simple post can say so much! In the same light, this can be a negative. The thing about these social networks is that our words can so easily be misinterpreted and manipulated. Since tones can't be heard, and facial expressions can't be seen, emotions and true motives get lost in translation. I believe people, especially people in the public eye like athletes, have to be very careful how and why they use these social networks. They can do a lot of good, but they can do a lot of damage too, if you aren't cautious when using it. In most cases it will be up to us sports agents, and managers, to communicate this to athletes and teams organizations. If not, something as simple as a comical tweet could be the downfall of a profession athlete and/or organization.
-Tatiana C.
Kin 577
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