By Farris Willingham, Editor-in-Chief
Officials are expanding their friendships with student athletes through social media.
Athletic coaches are “friending” student athletes on Facebook.
Athletic Director Jim Abbott said he encourages student athletes to participate in social media.
“The athletic department reminds students that if they choose to participate in these things, they are still representing the university,” he said. “We’re asking them to continue representing us well.”
Wrestling uses Facebook to promote team happenings, Abbott said.
“They share results from competitions, show pictures of some team activities, and discuss student accomplishments,” he said. “I think that’s a positive way to display accomplishments from members of the team.”
Social media also can be used as a recruiting tool, said Melanie Borger, assistant rowing coach.
“As Facebook has become more and more popular, we’ve integrated it,” she said. “Coaches and current athletes friend request recruits on Facebook.”
None of this is mandatory for the student athletes, Borger said.
“It’s just something that we’ve asked them to do,” she said.
Anyone can easily access publicly posted content on Facebook, Junior Rower Conor Borak said.
“If there’s anything bad on your page, it’s up to you to take it down,” he said. “Privacy depends on the user.”
