Can’t Stop The (Twitter) Signal

An interesting bit of news floated up to me today regarding a bit about everyone’s favorite social whori-er I mean social networking tool, Twitter. Seems that folks in charge of regulation at the U.S. Open are warning players against using Twitter, claiming that certain tweets may actually violate anti-corruption policies. The scope of examples apparently includes “information about the likely participation or likely performance of a player in an event or concerning the weather, court conditions, status, outcome or any other aspect of an event which is known by a Covered Person and is not information in the public domain.”

Now look here – I get where these folks are coming from. I mean, even though tennis probably ranks nowhere for making a buck gambling in comparison to football, baseball, and the like, they’ve gotta protect the integrity of the sport. I could be ignorant, though – the only tennis I’m really familiar with besides Wii Tennis, of course, is all those times that firecracker player John McEnroe went off on a referee, his opponent, the ball person, and anyone else within reach.

But trying to stem the tide of Twitter, where updates can be made from practically anywhere that has cellphone signal, is like trying to plug a dam that’s springing leaks. You can only really stick your finger in so many holes, after all. The real-time, instant connection appeal of Twitter is a godsend to some athletes who want to keep in contact with their fans, talk about some of their daily routine, and share the emotions they are feeling on the field. Restricting their communications over this medium is somewhat crazy – especially when you consider that more than just athletes use the service. That, and a few organizations and folks have tried to restrict Twitter communications, but none have really been successful yet. That ship’s sailed, hit an iceberg, and sunk into the ocean, guys and gals.

Just like it was with mp3′s, organizations like the ones responsible for maintaining integrity in the U.S. Open probably need to be a bit more adaptive rather than reactive to the new digital age. Minimizing the impact and effect of some player who tweets “in a LOT OF FUCKING PAIN” as they lie writhing on the ground from a twisted ankle, mobile device in hand, is probably a better path to go then trying to stop the practice altogether. Twitter in and of itself might be able to be utilized for good PR as well – real time feeds and reports using the service to report the latest and greatest in US Open coverage might not be such a bad idea, rather than worrying about some tennis addict making a buck or two.

So while I do have to say, props to the Tennis Integrity Unit of the U.S. Open for taking on such a challenge, I’ll also say to them “Good Luck!”….because they’re going to need every bit of it to stop the noise of thousands of people tweeting about their match results. Have fun with that.