The Twitter Olympic Era

The 2010 Winter Olympics are the first Olympic games to be held since the start of the "Social Media Revolution." Because of these new forms of media have recently become so popular, athletes can instantaneously upload behind-the-scene photos and information to their friends, families, and fans through their Twitter and Facebook accounts. The International Olympic Committee has set guidelines for what the athletes can and cannot post... Rule 49 of the 4 page Olympic blogging guideline charter states that athletes and coachers are not to act as journalists.

In a technological world of endless possibilities, this proves that at some point there needs to be a line drawn with what can and cannot be instantaneously accessed by the public. Reading this article got my wheels turning, and I really started to think about different scenarios.

If a rule like this appeared as a guideline for an American based competition, would people argue that the rule is against the athletes' and coaches' First Amendment Rights?

My opinion is... yes. If someone were to get in trouble for breaking "Rule 49," they could take it to court arguing that it is abridging their rights to freedom of speech / press, and would most likely win.

Readers, what are your thoughts?

MSNBC's article on Social Media in the Olympics