(Tip 4) Privacy and Personal Life
Fans love to see athletes share real life moments with them. You’re a real person and sometimes it’s easy for fans and followers to forget that.
There are some things that should remain private though and it’s important to remember this when you’re thinking of sharing something about your personal life. As a general rule, it would be advisable to not air your dirty laundry on social media. Regardless of how open you are as an individual, just ask yourself before posting something private, is this a part of my personal life that I’m comfortable sharing? Is it worth sharing? If it involves someone else, what will the effect of sharing this be on them?
(Tip 5) Don’t post angry
Don’t feed the trolls! We’ve all seen and heard the expression and it’s a sound bit of advice for everyone on social media, though it’s especially important for an athlete in the public eye.
People will try to push your buttons to see if they can get a rise from you. This is made more likely after a bad performance or a reveal of personal information either online or in the press. It may also be a regular thing from rival teams fans.
While it would be understandable to want to reply in anger to these messages, it’s best to step back from the keyboard and let yourself calm down. Wait until the anger has subsided and then, if you still feel you need to reply, do so in a mature and considered way. Better yet, ignore it.
(Tip 6) No take backs
Remember that there are no take backs on social media.
This is especially true when the post relates to potentially controversial or politically charged subjects. Once something that can be deemed remotely contentious is posted, there’s almost an inevitability that someone will have managed to get a screenshot of it and deleting the original message won’t help you. If you hesitate before pressing that send button, it’s probably best to listen to your gut and not post what you were planning to…
With the above in mind, be careful what you retweet too. Athletes of late have got into trouble and have had their reputations tarnished in certain cases. A retweet will appear as good as an endorsement.
