The Olympic spirit may be easier to uphold on the track than online. This week the second athlete was thrown out of the Olympics and sent home after posting disparaging remarks about other competitors to their Twitter account.
Last Wednesday, Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou was kicked off the team for tweeting negatively about African immigrants in Greece. Shortly after the announcement, the athlete posted an apology to her Facebook page, saying, “I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.” (via The New York Times)
Barely a week later, Michel Morganella, a Swiss soccer player was tossed off his team after tweeting insults about South Koreans the Swiss soccer team lost to South Korea 2-1 on Sunday. Morganella apologized shortly afterwards, as did the head of the Swiss Olympic delegation, who said the remarks “contradict the Olympic charter.”
The immediacy and accessibility of social media can be an instant emotional outlet for joy “We won!”, sadness “I can’t believe MJ is gone”, love “I love Mrs. A” and more — but it’s very immediacy and instant publication can transform one hot-headed, human reaction into an international insult. We have all had those moments of cursing and spewing and venting our frustration when things don’t go our way — until recently, those moments happened in our heads or under our breath. Social media is a powerful knife that can cut both ways — everyone, but especially public figures, might be well advised to count to 10, or maybe 100, before clicking “post.”
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