The Big, Scary Social Media Decision
We’re at that place…social media is a reality. It’s not only a social pressure, but it’s also a recruiting pressure. But when’s the right time to make the jump?
The kid claims to not want to be on social media. Sure, his friends are there. In fact, his position group in football has a “group chat” on Instagram. Not SnapChat, not text. But Instagram. I had no idea that was a thing. But I thought that would be “the thing” that pushed us to have the discussion. However, even then, he said he wasn’t interested. He’d continue to communicate via text to stay in the loop on any plans. Sure he’d miss out on the banter and back and forth. But, as long as he was in-the-know on plans, he was fine.
I was ok with that, truly. There were some issues in middle school with social media. Not only accounts exposing “shenanigans” on campus, but also a situation where sexually explicit images were being distributed. I was happy to have him out of the mix on that, and not keen to let him near it.
But then there’s the whole recruiting angle. Most of his athlete friends have Instagram or Twitter accounts. I’d like to think parents play a pivotal role in those accounts, monitoring content, likes, messages, DMs, etc. Of course, I understand the reality, especially now that he’s in high school, is that the control is less and less with each passing day or post.
So when is the right time? Do we start an account just to highlight his sports accomplishments? We’ve seen several of them go the micro-influencer route, thanking companies for their swag. That’s an awesome opportunity, and something that would help defray costs of sports training, gear, and even college. But that can take a lot of time to build up. As a marketer by profession, I know that quite well. I spend ample time in my day job engaging with or amplifying influencer content. I’m sure I could “use those skills for good,” with good being helping my kid get a leg up. And the time will come.
It feels like Pandora’s box. You can’t unopen that box. Once we start using social media, whether for recruiting purposes or personal uses, you’re in. You’re hooked. We’ve all seen the reports if not experienced the addiction first-hand.
Every time we get close to pulling that proverbial trigger, something happens to change my mind. The kid still claims he doesn’t want it. He doesn’t care to see what others are doing. I am sure he’s looking over his friends’ shoulders to view their TikTok or Insta pages. I have less control when he does that, as I don’t know what type of controls, if any, their parents have on those accounts. But I do know he’s not sitting up at midnight, doom scrolling instead of sleeping.
It’s freshman year. We’re all still getting used to everything - the schedule, homework, tests, social pressures. Heck, our first HoCo is in a few weeks. I think for now, we’ll wait until we have at least 1 full sports season and academic semester under our belts before making any decisions. I have no doubt he will continue his sports career, and the social media channels will be a requirement. But there’s no need to ring a bell that can’t be unrung until we have a little more info. Until then, we’ve got plenty of film and images saved up to start with some really high-energy highlight reels when the time is right.
