MLB Social Media Policy

[hawing]

http://bizofbaseball.com/docs/MLBSocialMediaPolicy.pdf

 

MLB has released a social media policy. The link above is a PDF of the policy. The link below is a Hardball times assessment.

 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/14/major-league-baseball-releases-its-social-media-policy-and-its-pretty-good/

[dlk9s]

Now if only MLB would stop being so lame about not allowing game video on YouTube.

[RightFieldCoder]

I don't get the no linking rule. If McCalvy writes a really good story commending Axford, Ax can't tweet a link to the article. I don't know how that could be bad for MLB.

[Baldkin]

Hopefully Nyjer stops tweeting before he gets himself suspended.

[Funketown]

That's a 50-game suspension for Plush waiting to happen.

[monty57]

"Think of the Internet or your smart phone as a big microphone placed in the middle of town square and everything you say into it is heard by everyone."

 

That's from the NBC author, and is a pretty good way to sum it up. The players can't hide behind an anonymous screen name. What they say can and will be held against them over and over and over again.

 

As far as the "no linking" rule, I'd guess it has something to do with an implied endorsement from MLB, which the attorneys who wrote this up would want to avoid. The player could write something objectionable and then link to mlb.com, which could lead some to believe that MLB also believes in the objectionable content. It may seem far-fetched, but attorneys put these things in for a reason.

[1992casey]

Yeah, the microphone in the town square analogy was excellent. I put that in my signature last night.

[crewcrazy]

"Think of the Internet or your smart phone as a big microphone placed in the middle of town square and everything you say into it is heard by everyone."

 

That's from the NBC author, and is a pretty good way to sum it up. The players can't hide behind an anonymous screen name. What they say can and will be held against them over and over and over again.

 

Athletes aren't the only ones that should think of it that way. It boggles me just how many teenagers don't realize what they put on the Internet is out there for everyone to see. A tweet is not the same thing as a text message.

 

I agree with Calcaterra that overall, it's a pretty sensible policy. The players are allowed enough freedom to be themselves, but there are enough safeguards to ensure that they're still fan-friendly.

[DuWayne Steurer]

 

Athletes aren't the only ones that should think of it that way. It boggles me just how many teenagers don't realize what they put on the Internet is out there for everyone to see. A tweet is not the same thing as a text message.

 

Teenagers? What about politicians? Movie and tv stars? I'm stunned that these types of people (athletes included) continually fail to grasp the consequences of the ridiculous things they put on the internet in the forms of tweets or facebook posts, but yet we continue to see it on a weekly basis.

[jerichoholicninja]

The only thing I got from reading that policy is that players can't post anything that MLB owns or contains anything MLB owns. I didn't see anything that might affect anything that Nyjer posts.