Twitter ban good move by Jimbo Fisher
July, 26, 2012
7/26/12
2:00
PM ET
By
Heather Dinich | ESPN.com
One of Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher's buzz words on Monday at ACC media days was "focus," and he's not just talking the talk.
Fisher has told his players they can't use Twitter for the rest of the year.
Twitter, Fisher said, is clutter.
“Alright, 18-year-old guy gets on there. He’s a 7-star (recruit), OK?” Fisher said, drawing a few laughs from reporters. “All of a sudden, he’s got 20,000 followers, 18 years old. He feels like every day he’s obligated, he’s owed to somebody, to tweet something or do something. They don’t need that distraction.
“It’s not truly indicative of how those kids are," he said. "It's usually younger kids -- a lot of them are retweets -- and they'll think, 'Well, I didn't do it.' No, it's under your name. It's still tweeted to you."
Fisher said he's "not against" Twitter, but his players didn't understand the true ramifications of it.
"It's a power that you must understand the implications of when you use it," he said. "We'll continue to educate, but it's a lot easier when there are less distractions."
Fisher's decision seemed to have an immediate impact on the Noles.
“Some guys just didn’t understand what Twitter is,” FSU quarterback EJ Manuel told reporters at ACC media days. “Obviously it’s an open forum, you can say whatever you want — freedom of speech. But you guys (reporters) are following them, kids are following them, their moms are following them, their dads are following them. You can’t do that. Whatever they said … that wasn’t right, and they understood that. Those guys obviously feel bad now because none of us can do it.”
And it's one less thing Fisher has to worry about this fall.
Fisher has told his players they can't use Twitter for the rest of the year.
Twitter, Fisher said, is clutter.
“Alright, 18-year-old guy gets on there. He’s a 7-star (recruit), OK?” Fisher said, drawing a few laughs from reporters. “All of a sudden, he’s got 20,000 followers, 18 years old. He feels like every day he’s obligated, he’s owed to somebody, to tweet something or do something. They don’t need that distraction.
“It’s not truly indicative of how those kids are," he said. "It's usually younger kids -- a lot of them are retweets -- and they'll think, 'Well, I didn't do it.' No, it's under your name. It's still tweeted to you."
Fisher said he's "not against" Twitter, but his players didn't understand the true ramifications of it.
"It's a power that you must understand the implications of when you use it," he said. "We'll continue to educate, but it's a lot easier when there are less distractions."
Fisher's decision seemed to have an immediate impact on the Noles.
“Some guys just didn’t understand what Twitter is,” FSU quarterback EJ Manuel told reporters at ACC media days. “Obviously it’s an open forum, you can say whatever you want — freedom of speech. But you guys (reporters) are following them, kids are following them, their moms are following them, their dads are following them. You can’t do that. Whatever they said … that wasn’t right, and they understood that. Those guys obviously feel bad now because none of us can do it.”
And it's one less thing Fisher has to worry about this fall.



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