But after what must have been a terrible night, Kyle Williams is seeing the nasty side of social media as some 49er fans have taken to Twitter to send him nasty messages and even some threats of physical violence.

Check out some of the tweets:

Many of the threats have been deleted – probably a smart idea.

Athletes (and any public figures, really) have to navigate Twitter and other social media carefully – from both sides. We’ve seen plenty of instances of athletes getting in trouble for controversial tweets, but that’s not all they must worry about. Twitter is an open service that allows public access to your account. And people can be vicious, especially when protected by the certain level of anonymity and lack of interaction that Twitter provides.

And of course, sports fans are simply f*cking crazy sometimes.

But if you want to restore your faith in humanity, just a little bit, check out tweet directed @ Kyle Williams in the past hour or so. Once news of the unsavory tweets began to break, users flooded his account with positive messages.

I’m just happy for Billy Cundiff that he’s not on Twitter.

The Olympics are a big production to pull off, and it takes quite a bit of help from unpaid volunteers. This year, organizers are actively recruiting 70,000 of these volunteers (or Games Makers, according to the committee) to help.

According to Reuters, these volunteers are being told to be careful with their social media use. Olympic officials are concerned about these volunteers giving away “breaking news about athletes or disclos[ing] the location of politicians and celebrities.”

So if you’re working at the Olympics this summer and snap a photo with Michael Phelps or David Cameron, be careful about sharing it on Facebook.

A spokesperson for the Games had this to say:

We understand that many of our Games Makers (volunteers) will want to use social media to share their exciting experiences at London 2012 with their friends and family.

As is standard in most organizations, we have provided some practical guidelines to give basic advice on interacting in a social media environment with the aim of protecting the interests of our workforce and operation.

Last summer, the International Olympic Committee issued their “Social Media, Blogging and Internet Guidelines for participants and other accredited persons.” These guidelines actually encourage social media use, but limit the type of postings to “first-person, diary-type format.”

The guidelines also allow for photos and even videos to be uploaded to social sites. Participants and “accredited persons” are clearly barred from “reporting on competition or commenting on the activites of other participants or accredited persons, or disclosing any information which is confidential or private.”

Another issue the the Olympic Committee appears to be concerned with is advertising.

Participants and other accredited persons are not permitted to promote any brand, product or service within a posting, blog or tweet or otherwise on any social media platforms or on any websites. Participants and other accredited persons must not enter into any exclusive commercial agreement with any company with respect to their postings, blogs or tweets on any social media platforms or on any websites, unless they have obtained the prior written approval of their relevant NOC.

Apparently, these social media guidelines are also going to apply to the 70K + volunteers at the 2012 Games.

The Games are set to kick off July 27th and run until August 12th.

Or Kenny Britt’s F*ck you, Roger Goodell on Facebook…or Santonio Holmes telling followers to go kill themselves on Twitter…

I’ll stop, as that could go on for a while. The point is, professional sports organizations have attempted to reign in the social media activity by instituting polices that a.) usually black out certain times as “social media free” and b.) spell out generic quality guidelines that keep athletes from saying things that reflect poorly upon the league.

Whether or not you agree with the social media restrictions, you have to admit that the league has an interest in doing so.

It appears the the NHL has become the latest major sports organization to institute one of these social media policies.

According to a release on NHL.com, the new policy will bar players and “operations staff” from posting during a certain window surrounding games. It also makes the same generic claims that we’ve seen before about holding players responsible for their communications, even when on their own time.

From the release –

The policy, the NHL Social Media Policy for League and Club Personnel, governs both players and hockey operations staff and is designed to promote the value of social media as a tool for communication with fans. It also highlights issues surrounding social media, as well as limits the use of social media by players and hockey operations staff on game days.

As per the new policy, there is a total “blackout period” on the use of social media on game days, which for players begins two hours prior to opening face-off and is not lifted until players have finished their post-game media obligations. The suggested blackout period for hockey operations staff is longer, beginning at 11 a.m. on game days.

Also, the new policy makes it clear that players and club personnel will be be held responsible for their social communications in the same manner in which they are held responsible for other forms of public communications. As a result, discipline is possible for any social media statements that have or are designed to have an effect prejudicial to the welfare of the League, the game of hockey or a member club, or are publicly critical of officiating staff.

A couple of players have put their opinion out on Twitter –

The new NHL policy went into effect last night.

The NFL’s social media policy, which was implemented in 2009, is pretty similar to this new NHL policy. Players, coaches and staff are not allowed to tweet or Facebook post within 90 minutes of kickoff or until post-game interviews are complete.

NBA’s social media policy shortens the pre-game window to 45 minutes and includes halftime as a banned period. It allows for individual teams to make their own determinations involving additional guidelines.

Not only will Olympics athletes be allowed to use Twitter during the London games next year, but the committee is actively encouraging the practice. Here’s what the IOC has to say in their social media, blogging and internet guidelines for 2012:

The IOC actively encourages and supports athletes and other accredited persons at the Olympic Games to take part in ‘social media’ and to post, blog and tweet their experiences. Such activity must respect the Olympic Charter and must comply with the following. Broadly speaking, the IOC wants people to share their experiences through social media. As a general rule, the IOC encourages all social media and blogging activity at the Olympic Games as long as it is not for commercial and/or advertising purposes.

Athletes are also being warned that any content deemed vulgar or inappropriate could lead to actions as serious as the removal of Olympic accreditation (I’m looking at you, Phelps). This would basically kick them out of the games.

The committee also outlines a specific format that they want all blogging and tweeting activity to take – autobiographical. They want the athletes’ tweets to comment on their personal experience at the games, not report on the games in general, as say a journalist would do.

However, any such postings, blogs or tweets should be in a first-person, diary- type format and should not be in the role of a journalist – i.e. they must not report on competition or comment on the activities of other participants or accredited persons, or disclose any information which is confidential or private in relation to any other person or organization. A tweet is regarded in this respect as a short blog and the same guidelines are in effect, again, in first-person, diary-type format.

As far as media updates to social networks? The IOC is now allowing photos to be shared. Videos can also be shared, but only if they are taken outside the actual venues. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, photos and videos were strictly prohibited from being uploaded to social media sites and blogs – for copyright reasons.

So it would seem that the IOC believes that the games can benefit from their athletes interacting with fans via social media. Although the IOC is being a little restrictive on the content, it still shows that they are embracing the new technology, especially Twitter.

The debate surrounding athletes and Twitter use continues to rage. On one hand, some feel like Twitter is a great way for athletes to communicate with fans. They feel that there shouldn’t be restrictions put on the athletes by the commissioners of various sports organizations. On the flip side, people cite the foul-ups of people like Larry Johnson and Rashard Mendenhall to make the point that Twitter should be restricted.

This weekend on ESPN radio in Chicago, NFL QB Donovan McNabb let the world know his feelings about the popular microblogging site – he’s no fan.

First of all, I’m not a fan of Twitter. Nothing against their program or what they have, but as an athlete I think you need to get off twitter. All these social networks of you tweeting about you watching a game when you want to be playing in it, but you’re mad you’re not playing in it, so you’re gonna criticize someone that’s playing in it. I don’t believe that that’s the right deal. That’s not professional by any means and you know we are all in a fraternity, so if you see a guy who’s struggling this isn’t the time to jump on him or kick him while he’s down because that same guy will come against you and kinda blast your team out the water, so I think for an athlete to be ‘twittering’ is the wrong move. It’s one of those things to leave to the fans and let them comment on certain things, but athletes need to get off Twitter.

If we can look past the fact that McNabb sounds like an old man railing against them crazy kids and their hippity hoppity and their World Wide Compuserves, he does make one interesting point. Tweeting out your feelings about team performance can do damage to the “fraternity” that he describes. But to say that “athletes” need to get off Twitter is quite the blanket statement.

Although the NFL and NBA have had rules about Twitter in place for years now, other sports organizations have taken a different stance on the issue. Last month, UFC president Dana White announced that he would be giving bonuses based on how many Twitter followers his fighters amassed. He also announced prizes for the “most creative” tweeters.

What do you think about athletes and Twitter? Let us know in the comments.

The latest social media victim from the wide world of sports? Tennessee Titans wide receiver, Kenny Britt. Apparently, the NFL lockout has been so boring for Britt, he’s decided to see just how much trouble he can get into from simply operating a motor vehicle. As an example of his sterling driving record, Britt has already been arrested twice since April, 2011 for two separate incidents involving a car owned by the receiver.

In fact, the first linked article has Britt’s laundry list of incidents since joining the professional football ranks, and let’s just say if Britt wasn’t a professional athlete with a decent bank account, it’s doubtful he’d be walking the street as a free man:

Britt has been involved in several off-field incidents since the Titans selected the Rutgers star in the first round of the 2009 draft:

Earlier this offseason in New Jersey, theft-by-deception charges against Britt were downgraded to a misdemeanor level. Two bailbonds companies had accused Britt of not following through on a pledge in court to pay bail for a friend who was arrested in January 2010.

Last October, Britt was involved in a bar room fight at a Nashville club, but he was not charged.

Last August in Nashville, he received a misdemeanor citation for driving on a revoked license.

Last offseason in New Jersey, police suspended Britt’s license after an arrest for outstanding traffic warrants. He paid $865 and was released.

Needless to say, it’s doubtful such a productive rap sheet has gone unnoticed by NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, who is known to come down incredibly hard on players who jeopardize the image of the league. Although Goodell has yet to respond to Britt’s latest misadventures — which would undoubtedly be with some kind of suspension — apparently, Britt decided a preemptive strike against the NFL commissioner was the best way to approach the situation, which leads us directly to the social media failure.

Over at Kenny Britt’s Facebook page, a post appeared, and it wasn’t too kind to Goodell or the Britt’s NFL career. As reported by Pro Football Talk and Brendan Prunty’s — he of the Newark Star-Ledger — Twitter account, Britt apparently posted the following on his Facebook wall:

Indeed. I mean, that’s the smart way to conduct your business, right?

Of course, once the news of Britt’s Facebook post hit the wires, Britt responded with the to-be-expected “my account was hacked” defense, but not before a follow-up was also posted at his Facebook page. The second post tried to apologize for the “F-You, Goodell” stuff by saying Britt would take his punishment like a man and whatnot. The “my account was hacked” post was entered after the follow-up, and it said both of the previous posts were made while his account was under someone else’s control.

As of now, there is only one post from Britt on his page, and it’s from January, 19th, meaning all of the previous fun was deleted. Unfortunately, the Google cache snapshot was taken during March, so no luck there either. Although the posts may have been removed, that doesn’t mean there isn’t other areas of fun happening on Britt’s Facebook page, because there is. This time, however, it is in the form of comments from fans. Let’s just say not everyone approves of Britt’s activities.

Instead of individual quotes, the following screenshot captures the mood perfectly (click for a bigger image with more comments):

Now, with the rise of social media, especially Twitter, athletes are saying things publicly all the time – making multiple statements a day. Sure, most professional athletes use Twitter like every other person; but since they are followed by so many people every little thing they say gets scrutinized and publicized – much to the chagrin of sports team owners and organizational presidents. And sometimes they forget to filter what they say.

So while most organizations like the NFL and NBA have implemented rules cracking down on Twitter use, one sport’s President is planning on rewarding “creative” Twitter use.

Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Dana White announced at the UFC Fighter Summit in Las Vegas that his fighters will begin to receive bonuses for Twitter use starting June 1st.

From mmafighting.com:

Starting June 1, UFC and Strikeforce fighters will be divided into four categories, based on how many Twitter followers they currently have. At the end of each quarter, three fighters from each category will be awarded a $5,000 bonus. The three winners will be based on who has gained the most followers since the start of the quarter, who gained the highest percentage of new followers and who wrote the most creative tweets. White will be the judge of the last category.

At the conclusion of a full calendar year, the UFC will end up paying $240,000 a year to its fighters for their Twitter usage.

Dana White is a prolific Tweeter himself, so his love of the technology must play some role in this decision. Some big name UFC fighters like Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell and Ryan Bader are already pretty active on Twitter, but White wants to expand the Twitter use to every one of his fighters.

For any relatively new sport, even one that has gained almost immediate popularity, publicity is key. While organizations like the NFL and NBA are well established and simply want to avoid bad press, White and the UFC understand the amount of buzz that can be created by Twitter.

For over a year and a half, the NFL has had a policy in place that bans Tweeting within an hour and a half from kickoff and also bans the service until post-game interviews are wrapped up. The NBA has also banned Twitter during games for players, coaches and other team personnel.

But much of the damage that their players have done in the past has been on their own time, nowhere near gametime. The most famous Twitter controversy has to be former Kansas City Chiefs RB Larry Johnson’s gay slur tweets from 2009. After bashing his coach after a loss he wound up in a Twitter-fight with another user. He then referred to his Twitter profile picture as a “fag pic.” That little comment cost him $213,000.

And then there’s Rashard Mendenhall, a more recent example. His comments following the killing of Osama bin Laden caused quite a stir.

It looks like Dana White and the UFC are welcoming all that come with Twitter presence. And why shouldn’t he? For a sport than has already come under fire by some for its violence, a possible Twitter controversy is nothing. So tweet away, fighters – and be creative!

Celebrity endorsements often work not necessarily because consumers believe that the celebrities use the product exclusively, but because they are familiar faces and capture the attention. According to NPD Group Research, less than 1% of images consumers see daily (30 of 3,156) reach conscious behavior. You need to stand out.

Sidenote: Speaking of standing out, check out this interview with Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra on standing out in the digital age:

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"Historically, endorsements were only obtainable for the largest advertisers and a handful of celebrities and athletes,” says Brand Affinity CEO Ryan Steelberg. "Now, it is easy for national and local advertisers and talent alike to benefit from the recognition and passion that consumers have for their favorite athletes and stars."

"For example, advertisers can quickly capitalize on the proven power of endorsement marketing by targeting locally and using celebrity association both pre- and post-click," adds Steelberg. "These are opportunities that can only be achieved in scale online, and the relationship with Microsoft Advertising and its valued network of partners is one of the ways we will open this new market of online endorsement advertising to advertisers of all sizes."

Brand Affinity provides a video looking at is platform here, which shows athlete names like Brandon Jacobs, Drew Brees, Matt Cassel, Ahman Green, Brooks Robinson, Robert Horry, etc. They claim to have access to "thousands of the leading athletes and celebrities." Here’s another short promo featuring Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Carson Palmer:

According to the announcement of the partnership, in early beta tests, BAT-enabled campaigns delivered an average of 13.5 times advertisers’ typical conversion rates and, on average, 3.5 times advertisers’ typical click-through rates. The campaigns also drove every tested brand metric including awareness, association, favorability and intent.

"It’s a perfect match – advertisers can quickly create star-studded campaigns that help improve online ad performance, while Microsoft helps connect them with audiences who seek new ways to associate with their favorite celebrities," says Keith Lorizio, VP of US advertising sales for Microsoft Advertising.

It should be noted that Microsoft is only the first publisher portal that Brand Affinity is using, leading one to believe that others are in the cards. Could Google  for example be in the mix for this at some point?