Back in the good old days, professional sportspeople just had to make sure they didn't get arrested. As long as that didn't happen they were all set. Even the stuff that happened on the field wasn't subject to too much scrutiny. Then technology began to leap forward and it's left us with the situation we find ourselves in today.
Infamy is just a click away now and social media has turned conduct into a 24/7 worry for sports most well known names. As such, in the build up to a big tournament, it seems to make sense that teams would give their players some heads up when it comes to the dos and don't of social media. And now we get to see exactly what England's guidelines look like ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
The Telegraph have gotten their hands on the 24 point guide and have kindly published it for us all to see. Although the vast majority of it is incredibly mundane, there's still quite a bit of humour to be found in it when you consider . However, it must be said that the guidelines are necessary according to Rugby World Cup rules.
Nevertheless, it's always fun to see fully fledged internationals being spoken to like children so here's some of the more entertaining points.
- Do not post when you are in a bad mood or immediately after a tough loss.
- Do not post pictures of drinking, smoking, nudity or while driving – that is illegal.
- Engaging in a public Twitter argument is a battle you won’t win. You’ll only end up looking foolish (you’ll also likely boost the other person’s follower count) as well as keeping the story going.
- If you enjoy a good win or achieve a personal milestone, take 30 seconds to tweet a "thank you" to the fans who were there to cheer for you or support you online.
- It’s perfectly fine to display your sense of humour on Twitter. Fans in particular love it when athletes show their personality. But don’t tweet at the expense of others.
Unfortunately this now ensures it is unlikely we'll see any of the England players tweeting naked pictures of themselves drinking and smoking while driving and insulting opposition fans after a tough loss. That would have been interesting but fair play to the England set-up for nipping that in the bud before it got out of hand.
