Facebook profiles pose potential problems for student athletes

The login page of Facebook declares that “Facebook is a social utility that connects you… The login page of Facebook declares that “Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.”

Indeed, Facebook has become a societal phenomenon, whether it is used to acquaint someone with unfamiliar people on campus or to stay in touch with friends from high school.

For student athletes at Pitt, however, the image on the Facebook page doesn’t just represent the person, it represents the University.

Joe Jordano, the head coach of the baseball team, believes common sense is a sturdy guideline. He tells his team not to post “anything that would discredit themselves as individuals, the team, the department or the University.”

Jordano also warned his players that “anything that they would not be comfortable showing their family, or that is outside of what is acceptable to the normal population, should not be posted.”

The athletes are subject to disciplinary action if anything on their profiles is deemed offensive. So far this hasn’t been a problem because the students adhere to team values and are aware of the impact they have.

“We hold ourselves to a higher standard because we are representative of the University of Pittsburgh” Jordano said.

Chris Beerman, head coach of the volleyball team, reiterated this principle.

“I think any time you’re representing a school in any way you have to set yourself to a higher standard than an anonymous student.” Beerman said.

He also said that common sense provides a basis for what can and cannot be posted.

“Nothing should embarrass the players in anyway,” he said.

Beerman has faith in the women he coaches, as he does not go on Facebook himself to check their profiles. Although he has confidence they are projecting a good image, he does acknowledge that sometimes the freshmen don’t grasp how important their image, in any form of media, is.

However, according to Beerman, the older girls provide good examples, so the freshmen learn quickly.

Joe Thomas, a freshman right guard for Pitt’s football team, knows that it isn’t a good idea for students to document their wild weekends on Facebook.

He said it was recommended that they not put pictures of themselves with alcohol on their profiles. He also said that the guidelines of what not to post were pretty obvious when he sarcastically remarked that “there shouldn’t be pictures of any of us with a bunch of random, naked girls.”

While the athletic department has no definitive policies concerning the usage of Facebook or its counterpart, MySpace, it takes an educational approach to helping student-athletes handle their campus fame.

Donna Sanft, senior associate athletic director for Administration, Compliance and Student Life, said that students are educated about issues such as identity theft and how to avoid it. She said the teams then set up their own Facebook guidelines.