Social media was supposed to be great for athletes, a way for them to get their message directly to fans.
Here’s the rub: People then have unlimited access to complain to those athletes. And with the anonymity of the Internet, they could blast away. If you want to criticize the media for being overly cynical and critical, that's fine, but go and check a prominent athlete's mentions on Twitter sometime. It can be brutal. If an athlete screwed up and it cost your fantasy team, plenty of fans will let him know in 140 characters.
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Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III had enough of it. Once very visible on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Griffin has shut it down for the season, ESPN.com's John Keim said. Griffin, who added that he plans to continue with social media after the season. said his unfiltered message was getting twisted around, the very thing social media was supposed to eliminate for athletes.
"It just felt like, for me, anything I was saying, whether it was positive or negative, whether it was a positive retweet or anything, was getting twisted and turned against me and against this team," Griffin said, according to ESPN.com. "I feel I can be free up here and talk to you guys, but sometimes things get twisted and turned and it creates a distraction for the team. I didn't want that to happen."
The criticism has been an annoyance, too, especially during a season in which Griffin has struggled and was benched. Griffin recently tweeted a get-well message to Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry in his battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and some fans took that as an invitation to rip Griffin. Not all fans were so harshly negative – plenty of right-minded fans attacked the trolls for being insensitive – but why would Griffin need to bother with such nonsense?
"Sometimes you don't understand certain things and they don't go the way you want them to go, but if I get criticized for retweeting about going to a charity event for a foundation, I mean what else can you do?" Griffin said. "So I decided to shut it down and not focus on it."
It won’t be a surprise if more athletes give up social media. It turns out, the great communication solution has its pitfalls as well.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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