T.H.I.N.K. BEFORE POSTING TO SOCIAL MEDIA

If you spend five minutes searching how to navigate the college recruiting process, or heaven forbid you read news articles about what’s going on in the world today, you are probably going to feel like you need a good dose of anti-depressants, therapy or both. If the college recruiting process has you feeling down, what’s even worse are the comment sections of the stories of people who have never been recruited or coached at the collegiate level telling you what you should and shouldn’t be doing.

If you have social media accounts, please be mindful of what you post.

As former collegiate coaches ourselves, we will be the first to tell you that college coaches are like private detectives. One of the first things they will do if they have interest in you as a student-athlete, is find you on social media. Even if your account is set to “private”, they will find a way to see what you’re posting.

So, before you post anything, use the T.H.I.N.K. method.

Is it True?

The first part of this method is to ask yourself if what you are posting is true. Always consider this when you are posting something. The internet is filled with fake stories. If you spread one of these by posting it or linking to the original post, you are tying your good name to that story.

The bottom line is, make sure that the content you are posting (about yourself or others) is true and accurate. How do you do this? Only use reputable sources. Don’t post any content that begins with “A friend of a friend of mine has an uncle whose neighbour told him.…” Make sure that your content is accurate and something that can be verified.

IS IT HELPFUL?

Next, ask yourself if the content you are posting will be helpful to your audience (aka college coaches). If you’re posting a highlight video, make sure you include all the necessary information to help a coach spot you immediately (name, jersey number, jersey colour, icon that follows you around the ice, etc). So, before you hit that share button on a piece of content, ask yourself if that piece of information will be helpful to college coaches.

Is it inspiring?

Going hand in hand with being helpful is being inspiring. A post may not have a helpful piece of information or statistics about you as a player or a student, but it may be inspiring to your followers. These are the posts that lift up and inspire others to follow their dreams to reach their goals.

Is it necessary?

The fourth part of this process is to ask yourself is it necessary. Is this piece of information really something that is needed by college coaches? Does it provide something for them? Does it have value? Will it help them understand you better as a potential prospective student-athlete?

Is it kind?

Finally, the easiest way for a coach to learn more about you as a person is to see the human side of you. Are you a good person? Are you kind? Are you making posts that promote kindness to humans, kindness to animals, and kindness to the world at large. If you do this, you will draw more college coaches to you/your brand and improve your reputation in the long run.

At the end of the day, college coaches not only want talented players and smart students, they also want good people in their locker rooms. Always do the right thing and take a moment and T.H.I.N.K before you post on social media