Social Media: Don't Lose A $140k Scholarship for a 140-Character Tweet

Casey Miller (@4caseymiller) is Positive Coaching Alliance's Program Manager, Movement Builder. She previously played two years of professional basketball in Oviedo, Spain, coaching youth girls basketball during her time there. Casey attended Merrimack College in North Andover, MA where she was a four-year starter for the NCAA Division II women's basketball team.

Social media can be a very powerful tool for student-athletes IF it is used in the right way, she explains. Most high school student-athletes, and sometimes younger, are connected to social media via Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and Tumblr. They follow their favorite athletes and teams, as well as friends, family, coaches and teammates.

Social media accounts can be a very effective communication tool, but only when used in a respectful way. It is very important for student-athletes to be aware that college coaches are continuously looking at the social media accounts of their recruits, and to know that whatever they post on social media (public or private) is on the internet forever for people to see.

Casey urges all student-athletes to think critically before they post to social media: "Could I tell my parents about this? My coach? Am I doing something disrespectful?"

Most likely, if you have to question what you are posting, you shouldn't do it.