Social media has become a real two-edged sword for college programs. Now, clever entrepreneurs are coming up with ways to closely monitor Twitter accounts. Kentucky uses Centrix Social and Louisville uses UDiligence.
The athletes agree to have monitoring software installed on their computers which logs keywords.
Although some athletes don't mind, there would seem to be a clear constitutional issue at play here and one that is waiting for a test case.
Still, different schools have had different experiences. At UNC, Marvin Austin's Twitter account has had catostrophic consequences. At Duke, players are allowed more leeway but are expected to be intelligent about how they use social media.
The bottom line is that the combination of celebrity and being able to make yourself instantly heard worldwide is a still novel and volatile mix, not least of all for 18-20 year olds.