Social media giant Twitter has grown to over 500 million users and an average of 340 million tweets per day (August 2012) and is continuing to grow. Athletes, fans, and team/organization representatives have used the site to connect to one another and build an online relationship.
But as is too often the case in these 2012 London Summer Olympics, athletes are posting “questionable” and often racist rants that have put their careers in hot water. That’s right, it’s not just NFL players tweeting controversial musings that should probably not be put for the world to see.
Many teams/countries have considered banning their representatives from using Twitter, hoping to avoid social media disasters and keep the PR team less active.
And despite the countless mistakes, athletes continue to tweet controversial posts. Here are some of the major ones thus far:
Social Media Disasters
1. Hope Solo Criticizes US Women’s Soccer Legend
There’s no doubting that US Women’s goalie Hope Solo is one of the most popular female athletes in the US. Her performance in the 2011 Women’s World Cup was legendary and she’s done something too few female athletes are able to do: become a household name. One of those household names is Brandi Chastain who also performed huge in a Women’s World Cup of her own. Solo called out the legend for her analysis of the US team’s performance with some rather harsh language.
2. Swiss Soccer Player Racist Tweet
Twitter really does span across the world and incorporates athletes tweeting mistakes in nearly every language. Michel Morganella, a Swiss soccer player, got in seriously hot water for his racist tweet about the Korean soccer team. After a 2-1 loss to South Korea, Morganella vented to his fans in what sent shockwaves across the Twitterverse. He eventually was expelled from the team and forced to miss the remainder of the Olympics. He did apologize for his comments, but was still released from the team.
3. Greek Athlete Kicked Off Olympic Team for Tweet
What makes Triple jumper Voula Papachristou’s tweet different from the other two is that she sent her’s out before the games had even commenced. Her racist post got her kicked off the Greek team and unable to perform in the games. She apologized saying that she had learned a valuable lesson from her ordeal. But with that said, one tweet might have ruined a lifetime of training.
Any other Tweets and SOCIAL MEDIA DISASTERS from the Olympics that caught your eye? Feel free to comment below and keep the discussion going!
Magnificent goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just
extremely excellent. I really like what you have acquired here, certainly like what you
are stating and the way in which you say it. You
make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it
smart. I can not wait to read much more from you.
This is really a tremendous site.