Care needed with social media, as USF, Jones learn

As the words were coming out of my mouth, I have to admit I felt pretty strange. It was all under the cover of journalistic duty, but still ...

"Stan, I'm sure you've heard about Dominque's post on Facebook by now. Have you talked to him? And is he going pro?"

University of South Florida men's basketball coach Stan Heath was civil in the words he chose as he answered, but his tone clearly said something else. It was almost like, has it really come to this?

I felt the same way. Yeah, unfortunately, it has.

If you missed it, on Wednesday - the morning after the Bulls were eliminated from the NIT by North Carolina State - Dominque Jones put a post on his Facebook page that could have been interpreted as the end to his days at USF.

"... it's time to make some money now."

That's what the post said.

About eight hours before those seven little words became news, Jones had said "no comment" when asked whether he was returning to the Bulls for his senior season.

Well, it doesn't take much. That's what I tell my sons all the time about Facebook and other social media. An innocent remark, one they may see as funny or joking, can quickly get taken out of context and blow up into a deal before they know what happened.

Not that many years ago, a guy like Jones would have gone home and simply unloaded on his frustrations to buddies about a tough loss and the end to his season. That would have been the end of it, at least until he truly made up his mind.

Now, though, they unload on sites like Facebook.

Here's what happened after Jones did just that.

Somebody saw the Facebook post, perhaps a buddy or maybe just a casual acquaintance from whom Jones accepted a friend request.

Pretty soon, that shred of information got passed around.

It got posted on a public message board.

Not long after, it made its way to mainstream media.

"Did you see what Jones posted on his Facebook page?"

Then, lordy be, we have a story - and Heath has a telephone that won't stop ringing.

Yes, he spoke to Jones after he heard about the post. At the time we spoke early Wednesday afternoon, Heath said Jones probably wouldn't have anything publicly to say about the matter.

That obviously changed.

By 6:54 p.m. - because, I'm guessing, they got so many questions about it - USF had to issue a statement from Jones clarifying what really was going on.

"I want to set the record straight in regards to my plans regarding the NBA. I have not made a decision on going to the NBA or returning to USF. At this time I plan on gathering information on my status and will likely test the waters to further determine my positioning within the draft," Jones said in the statement.

"I also expect to get feedback on areas of improvement for myself. In the near future I hope to have clearer picture of what my plans will be. My goal to play in the NBA as well as my goal to earn a college degree are both important to me. My dad and my coach will help me in this process."

Heath, who was headed out of town on a recruiting trip, just kind of sighed as he talked about the brushfire.

"Kids view Facebook as kind of their space," he said. "He was just upset after the game, but he hasn't made up his mind yet."

I agree.

For the record, I'm not a Facebook friend of Dominique Jones, and I suspect both of us like it that way.

I will say that athletes need to be smart about these things.

While they may see their pages on social media as a place to escape the crowd and live whatever life they consider normal, the truth is we're all judged by what we do and say. Some athletes use Facebook and Twitter to make their own announcements - new contracts, where they're going to college, retirement, any number of things.

Coaches use the sites, too.

So do reporters and columnists.

I've lost track of the number of stories generated in the last year because of some athlete sent a tweet or had a Facebook update. It's just the time we live in. Pretty soon, I suspect, they'll just plant chips in our brains and athletes can communicate directly through the Vulcan mind meld.

Jones didn't do anything wrong. Neither did the people who saw what he wrote and started passing it around. And when a high-profile person like Dominique Jones is generating the level of chatter he had Wednesday, it won't take long for reporters to get in on the action.

They didn't do anything wrong either.

But a lot of people spent a lot of time passing around seven little words that, in the end, didn't mean a thing.

Back in the day, if someone said something controversial or newsworthy, the words often wound up on a bulletin board in an opposing locker room and everyone got fired up.

Today, they wind up on a message board.

Different board. Same effect.