ethical issues fro athletes using social media platforms

Athletes use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to promote their personal sponsors in ways such as taking photos with brands’ products during the competition of which there are official sponsorships is unethical, some people is arguing.

This topic is being heated discussed during these months due to the 2012 London Olympic Game.

The International Olympic Committee issued guidelines to all athletes prior to the London Games saying they could be sanctioned if they openly promote other brands. During the event, athletes can only promote official Olympic sponsors, which means many are not allowed to endorse their own individual sponsors.

Dozens of track and field athletes have taken to Twitter, Facebook and personal blogs to demand reform of ‘Rule 40’ which forbids them to advertise their own personal sponsors if they are not approved Olympic partners.

Runner Nick Symonds tweeted “#Rule40 can kiss my temporarily tattooed butt. I wouldn’t be in London today without my sponsors!”

“While we consider representing our country at the Olympics the highest honour, every day we face the reality that achieving the dream requires financial support. This support requires that we be able to effectively market ourselves and acquire sponsorship, a process that is part of an ongoing journey, 365 days, every single year," the association said.  

Indeed, athletes have rights to use social media to express their emotion and expose their personal lives, just like other publics. It is so hard to define using social media to thank their personal sponsors is a right or wrong thing for the athletes. Athletes are only doing a thing that all human should do: be thankful to the people who helped us. Social media can help athlete proclaim their love for brands and is a direct way for athletes connect with their supporters and fans. In most of the time, athletes using social media just to share their happiness after winning a game with their fans and friends.

But it is a common knowledge that “wherever celebrities go, fans follow”. Increasingly, an active social-media profile has become one of the most important deal-points for brands, talent agents and even PR agencies to consider when negotiating contracts.

"Advertising agencies are asking more and more, "How many fans on Facebook do you have? Are you on Google+? '" said George Ruiz, head of digital media for International Creative Management. "These questions are being asked on every single deal that comes from the ad world as they're asking, "Are we hiring the right person to get our message out?'"

Once the athletes make the space for their personal sponsors appear in the sport game, they can get revenue immediately. And this is not fare for the official sponsors who invest a load of money to get the same effects.

The USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said the athletes should appreciate the investment of official sponsors.

He said: "While the athletes are the heart of the Olympic Games, and the Movement more broadly, without the support of our official partners, the Games would not be able to happen.”

"Our partners provide 40 per cent of our budget. If the value of those sponsorships declines because we can no longer provide exclusivity, then our level of support for athletes overall will decline."

Every sport event has its own official sponsors, and every sponsor wants to have the privilege that only it can promote its brand during the event. However, this privilege can be easily taken away because athletes’ personal brands can spend nothing to promote themselves with the helps of athletes’ social media platforms. Therefore whether allowing athletes using social media during the sport events becomes one of the most important ethical issues within the sports industry.