University’s social media crackdown draws major online backlash

A host of negative tweets targeted WKU Feb. 27.

A Kentucky university is aggressively fighting parody and criticism of school officials on Twitter and other social media sites, which students and free-speech advocates say is a constitutionally questionable attempt to silence any negative comments.

Western Kentucky University’s president has used Facebook to lecture students about social networking etiquette, and officials persuaded Twitter to briefly shut down a parody account dripping with sarcasm and criticism with posts marked “#wku.”

Officials deny charges of censorship, but observers say the school appears to have immersed itself in the policing of social media deeper than many others around the country.…Read More

Recruiting in this age of social networking is a slippery slope

Recruiting athletes via Twitter landed one coach in hot water.

As technology evolves, recruiting parameters have become blurrier. In the last five years, the NCAA’s microscope has tried to sharpen its focus on social media.

Of course, the NCAA didn’t need a microscope to see what happened Tuesday.

Oklahoma University (OU) assistant coach Jay Norvell’s Twitter feed was pouring out NCAA violations. They were all secondary in nature; that is, minor infractions not likely to bring any harsh penalties. But the tweets came with alarming frequency.…Read More

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