Social Media Giveth, Social Media Taketh Away

Sep 19, 2022 - 11:00 AM

Social media is always a two-edged sword. Duke has used it brilliantly for several years after becoming dismayed over how the Blue Devils were being portrayed in the media. Why not do it yourself? And if something is worth doing, it’s not that you want to overdo it, but if you’re going to line up a new narrative, it’s brilliant to let the players do it themselves. So fans get a view of Duke players interviewing each other, narrating features and so on. Marshall Plumlee was really good at this and Zion Williamson turned walk-on Mike Buckmire into a media star by including him in interviews and actually interviewing him.

Perhaps the ultimate social media star for Duke has not yet arrived: commit Jared McCain, who will arrive next season, has an immense social media presence and he’s as well-known for that as he is for basketball.

This clip of him dancing with Cam Reddish, RJ Barrett and Trevor Keels is going to be a fan favorite.

But it can be a two-edged sword. Take GG Jackson for instance.

Jackson originally committed to UNC after South Carolina fired Frank Martin but his replacement, Lamont Paris, eventually won Jackson over and he decided to stay home and play for the Gamecocks.

This didn’t go over well with some UNC fans, including one guy who tweeted at him that he “couldn’t take the challenge of UNC [and] tucked tail and ran.”

Jackson’s unkind response? “[Obscured name] “your wife looks like a man. ”

This does appear to be a legitimate post as it has a blue check.

College athletic departments have long understood the dangers of social media and have learned to monitor posts by athletes. And apparently South Carolina was being diligent because Jackson’s Twitter account appears to be gone. We don’t know who Brad_4444 is, but he responded “DAMN GG!”

Coincidence or not, his account appears to be gone also.

It’s a silly situation really but the main thing to remember is that Jackson is 17 and that means by definition he is immature and those who wish to chastise him should recognize that. He’ll grow up at some point, whenever he does, and presumably he’s about to learn that insulting someone’s wife on Twitter is a bad move. It appears to have cost him Twitter access at the least.

Presumably the guy who went on the attack is more mature - he is apparently married, after all - and really doesn’t need to get into Twitter spats with a teenager.