But if you do fall foul of a spontaneous urge and find yourself in trouble for something you have posted, then we are here to help. Our lawyers are experts in what to do about sensitive photographs, videos and comments on social media or other websites, and related reputational issues. Lois Langton and Fiona Hinds are the joint Heads of the Sports Individuals Group at Howard Kennedy LLP, a leading London law firm. Howard Kennedy acts for a significant number of sportsmen and women and understand the sports industry from both a legal and commercial perspective. For further information please contact Lois Langton or Fiona Hinds: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media - Don’t get caught offside when you’re online Cristiano Ronaldo has 37 million followers on twitter. Wayne Rooney has 11 million. Joey Barton has 3 million despite not having a club over most of the summer. It’s really easy to use and it’s a great way to engage with fans, but you need to be careful when you use it. Tweeting the wrong thing takes two seconds, but could haunt you for the rest of your career. That’s why we have put together our top tips to help you tweet safely: 10 to think twice before hitting ‘tweet’: for tweeting safely: Finance Howard Kennedy TOP 5 t ip s 5 t ip s 5 t ip s TOP 5 r e a s o n s 5 r e a s o n s 5 r e a s o n s 1 Don’t tweet when you’re angry: Text a friend instead, or write out the tweet but don’t press send until you have taken a little bit of time to calm down and reflect. 2 Don’t get drawn in to petty debates with fans: Fans are always going to tweet you just to get a reaction. Don’t rise to it. Focus on the fans who want to support you and your team. 3 Ask your agent or your lawyer before you tweet about a product: You could jeopardise your relationship with your sponsors if you are seen to be supporting a rival product or company. Don’t tweet photos of yourself wearing the “wrong” brand. 4 Ask your club for guidance or hire your own social media manager: e chances are your club has a social media manager. ey will be able to give you a list of things not to tweet about, and should be available to tell you whether particular tweets are a bad idea. 5 Ask yourself “would I ever say this in an interview?”: If it’s too rude for an interview, then why is it OK to tweet it? Anything you put online can be quoted in the papers, just as an interview would be. 1 1 m f ollo w e r s 10 Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/theprofessionalplayer 1 The FA: Ashley Cole received the highest ever fine (£90,000) for tweeting that the FA were a “bunch of t***s”, even though he apologised before the FA brought the charges. 2 Your club: Rio Ferdinand’s final season should have been memorable for the right reasons. Instead it will be remembered for the three match ban he received for describing Ashley Cole as ‘choc-ice’. 3 The police: A student called Liam Stacey sent a few tweets about Fabrice Muamba back in 2012. He had no previous record and apologised the same day (once he had sobered up). Even so, the tweets were so offensive that he was sent to prison for 56 days. 4 Your sponsors and the ASA: Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshere got into trouble with the Advertising Standards Agency (a government watchdog) after they sent tweets on behalf of Nike but made it look as if they were their own words. 5 Your next club: When you’re looking for a new club, will you be able to add value to your deal by pointing to the number of shirts you could sell? Or would fans just think “Isn’t that the guy that accidentally posted a picture of himself with no clothes on”?