Changing The Rules As We See Fit – Regulating Social Media

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If you weren’t already aware, the FTC / FDA are working to implement regulations on social media by 2011. These guidelines are being created to provide transparency for consumers regarding the advice and information they receive about products and services on social media networks. In other words, it’s time to get rid of the shills in the “wild west” world of social media marketing.

But to where will the FTC / FDA look for direction in their search for a functional way to monitor marketing tactics that take advantage of social media resources? Perhaps they will look to the NCAA, which is already a step ahead of the game. The governing body for collegiate athletics has been regulating the use of social media during the recruitment process for almost 5 years (and let’s face it, the recruitment process for college football and basketball is essentially a giant marketing campaign).

I recently conducted an Internet search for instances of social media infiltrating the “protected” bubble of collegiate athletics. The results were not hard to find:

>> On February 17, the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) entered into an agreement with athlete-to-coach social networking site, Eporro.com.
>> University of Michigan Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez offered 6’5? 355 pound offensive tackle, Aundrey Walker, a full-athletic scholarship via Aundrey’s Facebook page.
>> Ex-Tennessee Head Football Coach Layne Kiffin prematurely announced the commitment of defensive end J.C. Copeland on Twitter, an NCAA recruitment violation.

The integration of social media into the collegiate athletics recruiting process is really quite interesting. NCAA rules regarding communication in general between coaches and athletes are extremely strict, complicated and constantly changing. The development and growth of social media makes creating and enforcing these rules all the more difficult.

In one of its more definitive decisions, the NCAA completely banned coaches from sending text messages to recruits in 2007. However, the explosion of social media has blurred even this rule a bit. Division I and II coaches are permitted to communicate with prospect athletes via one-on-one messaging from social networking sites (Division III banned all social networking for recruiting purposes in 2007). But what if the recruit chooses to receive the coach’s “approved social network communication” on his or her phone, as a text?

Perhaps Illinois Head Football Coach Ron Zook had the right idea when he said, “I’m not sure the NCAA understands exactly what [social media] is … I sure don’t.”

It is slightly amusing to consider the fact that the athletes being recruited probably have a better handle on social media and mobile communications than the regulating body that makes the rules and drops the hammer when the rules are broken. Then there are the poor coaches are stuck in the middle, wondering, “Should I Tweet or should I go” (on a traditional house visit).

I think the NCAA gets it right, for the most part. The ban on texting was in response to athletes complaining about getting such a barrage of messages from coaches that it was intruding into their personal lives. Additionally, this was at a time when “unlimited texting” mobile plans were still a pipe dream; you can imagine the costs incurred by the young athletes (meaning their parents) for all the incoming texts.

Because the NCAA is supposed to have the best interests of the student athlete in mind, it makes sense for them to embrace communications through social networks. A high school athlete can choose when to look at his or her Facebook page, so the intrusion into their personal lives should be restricted. Additionally, coaches will likely remember to appreciate the value of a personal visit and the disvalue of being an Internet spammer.

As is evident by the recent news that the FTC and FDA are cooking up federal regulations for social media, this is only the beginning. With mobile applications becoming more sophisticated by the hour and crazy “tablet” computers that look like Magna Doodles on the way, regulating bodies will feel more and more obligated to put down their two cents. And that will become tougher with each new development in the social media phenomenon. The lid on the can of worms is so loose your mother could open it.

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About the Author:
Bill Balderaz is the president and founder of Webbed Marketing, a social media monitoring and Internet marketing firm with more than 40 clients, including several Fortune 500 companies. Prior to founding Webbed Marketing, Bill worked with some of the largest publishers in the world, including Standard and Poors, McGraw-Hill and Thomson Gale.
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