A growing number of campus athletics directors seem willing to consider banning student-athletes from Facebook — arguing, essentially, that it’s entirely fair to hold athletes to a different standard than other students.
But the University of Minnesota at Duluth has gone a step further: Last fall the institution settled on a broader policy that prohibits athletes from using social-networking sites of any sort. Not only is Facebook forbidden, but so are MySpace and Flickr, the popular photo-sharing site, according to The Minnesota Daily.
University officials say they intend to lift the social-networking ban next year, after they’ve had a chance to discuss online discretion with athletes. But if the institution does reinstate social networking, students may still feel that they’re just one embarrassing photo post away from losing their privileges once more. Of course, that could be exactly what the university wants. —Brock Read
