Social media is a great tool for clubs to share, learn, communicate and connect with their existing and potential audience.

Use of social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter has many benefits but with that has come inevitable issues. The Office of eSafety Commissioner has information and resources to help clubs navigate the risks of social media and ensure the safety of all users.

Cyber-Bullying

Cyber bullying is using technology to threaten, intimidate, harass or humiliate someone. In sport, cyberbullying may look like online racism, targeted threats, intimidation to team members and opposition players, coaches and teams, defaming umpires, coaches, or unsubstantiated claims of drug-taking or favouritism.

Cyberbullying behaviour might include:

  • Abusive texts and emails
  • Hurtful messages, images or videos
  • Imitating others online
  • Excluding others online
  • Humiliating others online
  • Spreading nasty online gossip and chat
  • Creating fake accounts to trick someone or humiliate them
  • Threatening violence or inciting others to do the same

What to do?

Follow the National Social Media Engagement Policy - The National Social Media Engagement Policy sets out the Football Body’s expectations of its Members when engaging with Social Media.

Resist the urge to respond – Often, people who say hurtful things do so to get a reaction and cause issues. By not responding, you are taking away the person’s power.

Save the evidence – before you block or delete the comment or person, be sure to get evidence like screenshots and context. This is important as we see more social media code of conduct issues reported in community football.

Block and report them - Use all the tools available to you to block or mute them after you have screenshotted the evidence.

Other risks

Other common social media issues include:

  • Image based abuse
  • Cyber abuse
  • Offensive or illegal content
  • Sexting
  • Unwanted contact
  • Stealing of personal information

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner provides good overview of all common social media issues and is a great tool when exploring the issues.