Seminole Twitter Ban Aimed at Educating, Not Punishing

It seems like once per week a news story emerges about a person getting in trouble on Twitter. Whether it's a racist joke by a Greek Olympian or a football player spouting off about a fast food restaurant, someone is always stepping in it on the social media site.

And that issue, the simple propensity for an unbridled swell of emotion to become a 140-character albatross, is part of what makes Twitter so divisive.

For the most part the split is generational, people who grew up before Facebook's statuses really took hold think the whole trend is silly. It seems like the further away from that Zuckerberg-drawn line you get, the dumber Twitter looks, but to people who have grown up around social media it's a regular part of life.

Florida State has been no stranger to Twitter controversy. Last season after several losses Jimbo Fisher issued a Twitter embargo feeling that the site had grown to be a distraction. By that point though, many of the Seminoles had already abandoned tweeting because of the swell of negative feedback they were receiving from angry fans. 

Quietly at some point Florida State allowed its players back on the networking site and by the start of Spring a number of Seminoles players were actively tweeting again.

It didn't last long though, sophomore defensive back Tyler Hunter got on Twitter in early July after a traffic stop and angrily tweeted a rap lyric about killing police before describing the incident.

The backlash was immediate, with national media outlets picking up on the story within the day.

"From the day it happened he knew it was a bonehead thing," said Coach Fisher. "The guy got mad, said something, instead he tweeted it, that makes a big difference and I think that's the reason Twitter's not with us, because it's a power and a privelege."

Hunter has had to do a number of educational and service-related tasks to stay on the team and will not be allowed to publicly apologize until after he has completed most of that. 

"It's a huge lesson, and he's going to continue to meet with Chief Perry and we're going to counsel and learn and educate, still continue the ride-arounds," said Fisher. 

As for the rest of the team, once again Twitter is off-limits.

"Ah you know, it sucks but we get through it," said senior fullback Lonnie Pryor. "We went through it last year but it's just twitter. The first week might be hard but it's Twitter."

Pryor is one of the team's largest personalities, an outgoing jokester, he had amassed several thousand followers on Twitter and was quite prolific on the site. 

Not these days.

"I don't use my phone as much, I try to use other things like four-square, I don't know if you all have that but you can follow me on four-square," Pryor joked. "But the twitter, it's gone. My girlfriend, she has it and keeps me informed when people says things, I miss it, it's alright but yeah follow me on four-square."

Jimbo Fisher isn't joking though, he sees a very real lesson that can be imparted to his team and he wants to make sure that he gets it across.

"Everybody says we're banning Twitter. We're not banning it, we're going to educate [on] the use of it before it's ever reinstated," said Fisher on Monday. "Words are maybe the most powerful thing you have out there and you have to appreciate how you say them and what you do with them before you go spurting them off."

That lesson in accountability (and to some extent level-headedness) plays into part of a larger concept Fisher stresses to his football team.

"Live in the now and understand you control what happens to you, you have to create those habits daily, you have to have the details so that when those situations come, good, bad, indifferent, you're prepared," remarked the third year head coach. "You can't please everybody, you can't keep everybody happy, you can't answer every tweet, every facebook. You can't be all things to all people. The key to me is prioritizing."

"Why are you here? To be a good person, to get a great education, to be a heck of a football player and play on a great team, anything above that if there's time, OK. But I tell the guys all the time if you're going to be the person you want to become, be the student you want to become, get that degree, and become the players you want to become and play at a championship level, if you're going to do those things, guess what? You can't do what everybody else does, there's not enough [time] in the day... We've got to prioritize what's important to us."

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