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The Facebook Backlash

While popular social network MySpace has been widely attacked in the news, Facebook had up until recently remained relatively unscathed.

Well, Kent State may soon decide to disallow its athletes from participating in Facebook groups:

One football player’s interests are “football, parties and drinking” – but he is only 18 years old. Some underage gymnasts had double-shots at a party over the summer. One wrestler is “in a relationship” with one of the gymnasts. Another wrestler doesn’t have any favorite books because he doesn’t “know how to read.”

But pretty soon Facebook members won’t be able to find any of this information.

Kent State student athletes may be forced to remove their Facebook profiles within the next few days, said Laing Kennedy, Kent State athletic director.

“We are reviewing the situation,” he said. “I’m not wanting to limit student athletes’ ability to communicate with their friends and family. The concern we have is that some of them have put up on it a lot of personal information. Although the intent is harmless, the perception is that it is an invitation to the wrong people. Our interest is to protect our students.”

Read: our interest is to control our “student”-athletes’ public image and off-campus speech. Any bets on how long it will take until the UO adopts this policy?

  1. Tyler says:

    I’ll remember that their wrestlers can’t read. That’s pretty funny, if true.

    God, I hope it’s true.

  2. Niedermeyer says:

    You think this is bad… wait for our Coppertone Kent State Massaacre Victim Cartoon TM… Or Hang Gliding Kent State Massacre Victim TM

    Poor Kent State… some kids get shot on the campus back in the 70’s and that is all anyone will ever remember about you

  3. Jeff says:

    I

  4. Pete says:

    I tried to come up with some clever Weird Al-ish take on this:

    Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
    We’re finally on our own.
    This summer I hear the drumming
    Four dead in Ohio

    But gave up after twenty seconds.

  5. Ian says:

    We can only guess what the punishment for violating the rule will be.

  6. bryan says:

    Kent State has such a long and storied history of allowing its students freedom of expression.

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