In what should come as no surprise in the year 2011, even a organizational behemoth like the National Football League is now fully immersed in the social media realm, be it teams, players, owners, coaches or even the league's top PR man. And, perhaps even more importantly as the 2011 Draft quickly approaches, teams are using social media to help make their picks.
That's right, in case you had forgotten, social media works both ways, as both an information-sharing source AND an information-gathering source. So it should come as no surprise that the NFL and their teams are using social media more than ever to help guide them in their draft-day decisions. What prospects say/post to their Facebook and Twitter accounts are being evaluated in almost the same manner as their 40 yard dash times, with many GMs and Owners hoping to avoid a media backlash if they take a player with character issues, especially a player who has basically plastered the internet with their own character flaws. Now, many will argue this is unfair and that personal webpages are just that, personal, but if you are a NFL Draft prospect this is the new reality in the information age and they need to put their best virtual foot forward.
In other words, maybe someone should take Ryan Mallet's Facebook and Twitter pages away.