Social media and sports: A plus or minus?

SALT LAKE CITY -- Social media in sports has changed the line of communication so much that it's easier to tweet than give a writer a one-liner. The modern day athlete continues to distance him/herself from the public and it gets harder and harder to get to know your favorite player. I do believe that communication 20-25 years ago, before cell phones, apps, and the many different ways people in sports talk indirectly to you, the fan, was just as sincere. Having said that, social media is working for all those who want to communicate and let you know their opinion on something that involves themselves or others.

Years ago my mother had a plaque on the mantle in the living room that read, "Women have many, many faults and men have but two: Everything they say and everything they do." Relationships have gotten more complicated since then and tweeting has helped that. Social media now plays a role in relationships, and as in everything in life, you can become a product of everything you say and everything you do. More than anything right now athletes are putting their foot in their mouths because of what they say. But, how great is it to have a following of 10,000 or more tweeters wanting to know what you're doing and what you had for breakfast?

I know we all have the propensity to judge social media and tweeters by the few that use it for other reasons. But I do believe that social media has helped those who do not have access to their favorite athlete. I, like others, thought tweeting was a way of having people in your affairs that didn't need to be there. And yes, you are a product of everything you say and everything you do. After thinking about this some more, I realize that social media has many avenues of communication. I would imagine that talk radio would be impacted by tweeters because you can get your ‘say' in when you wanted to and not be on hold forever. Not like so many athletes who want to put their name out there, tweeters can hide behind their computer and not have their name associated with their comments, inappropriate or not.

Tweeting has become a great outlet for a shy person or a person that's busy and on the run. I guess my question to ask yourself is, "What has social media done to sports?" And without taking a poll I do know that the impact has been great. But there's an even bigger question, "What effect will baby boomers have on sports, global and in America?"

Glad you asked. Check out these numbers: The world population has exploded in the last 50 years with unprecedented growth that catapulted to over seven billion last fall. Birth rates are down, but longevity is up. With life expectancies rising, a global aging trend will be accompanied by social, economic, and political consequences. The global average life expectancy for a human born today is about 68 years, and by 2050 it will be 75. The life expectancy for a U.S. citizen is 77.9 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). That means people that are 60+ years old will outnumber those under 15 years of age for the first time in 2045. Wow. If we seniors won't care about social media or tweeting who's going to carry the torch, and who tweets more: women or men?

Glad you asked. The gender gap between women to men globally is 100 to 83. That means there are 66 million more women age 60+ to men in the world. By 2050, will we be wondering where the tweeters and social media advocates have gone? I know the average 60 year old doesn't care about social media now, but think about 25 years from now and if the gender gap continues to increase. (I assume that more men are interested in sports and sports-tweeting than women.) If birthrates are decreasing, women outnumber men, women outlive men, and men tweet more in sports, what will happen to social media in sports?

The average 60 year old today may not care much about social media, but that is changing. 25 years from now the average 60 year old will barely remember a life without it. Interest in sports and athletes isn't going away anytime soon. The fact of the matter is athletes can vent when they're happy, when they're sad, and when they're mad. It's a little different from a customer service survey when a customer complains when not satisfied. Being able to tweet and vent sometimes comforts the athlete. So according to my mother, women have many, many faults, and men have but two: everything they say and everything they do. And the tweeter becomes a product of both of them.

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