Should sports stars be banned from Twitter?

Surely Twitter is the only resource that gives adequate access to these cosseted stars. Press conferences and the like are so mundane that you never find out anything interesting and most stars are coached within an inch of their lives for interviews.
Outbursts like Pieterson's, and Babel's famous 'I thought Jovanovic was a winger', should be encouraged not banned.

Yeah that's why they shouldn't be banned. So we can get more and more prurient insight into their juicy, juicy lifestyles. Not because of the massive freedom of speech issues.
Follow Grahame Swann on twitter. He uses it like any other person, avoids commenting directly on the sport, thus causing himself PR problems, and is pleasingly amusing at the same time.

The use of twitter is one of the few ways that your average joe can get anywhere near sports stars nowadays. As an example. Yesterday there was speculation all day that Ryan Babel was leaving Liverpool. At around 4pm he came on twitter and announced he was going no where. That was great for the fans. Straight from the horses mouth and it was nearly 45 minutes later that the big boys like sky news carried the story. I would hazard a guess that the fact that Babel takes the time to tweet and talk to the fans is one of the reasons he has such a great following at Liverpool, as he's yet to deliver on the pitch

Sportsmen and women should be treated like adults - given some guidance on how to avoid trouble - and encouraged to get on with it. Like this - http://weltchmedia.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/why-are-sports-bosses-so-scared-of-social-media/

What a strange question.

If Pieterson was expected to keep quiet about this until it had been released officially then clearly he shouldn't have twittered it. You might as well ask if he should be banned from talking because he told some bloke down the pub.

Should they be banned? Absolutely not. Should certain sports stars use their heads before their thumbs? Without a doubt.

Since getting a smartphone I've kept up on twitter more regularly and I have to say it's a joy seeing into the life of footballers such as Rio Ferdinand - who I had no idea was such a top guy and family man - and the banter Robbie Savage has had with Mark Bright and others.

It's a great outlet for these guys to connect with their fans, a direct connection where I can talk to Rio, Robbie or Mark. I see even Edgar Davids is on the twitter scene, posting a picture of him collecting train tickets for Palace's away last weekend, suddenly we see the men behind the millions.

Pietersen's outburt wasn't the first and It won't be the last and to gag sports stars over matter is like what someone has alread alluded to would be like gaggin them from telling the bloke in the pub.

That's the positive but of course there is the negative, and sometimes you see sides to some stars that not only make you cringe with their lack of professionalism.

I leave this to Walsall striker Darren Byfield. A man who must have kids following him on twitter constantly types bile and offensive language, shows more passion for going out in Manchester a night before his side plays than the club who pays his wages and more alarmingly publishes online via his twitter that someone out of big brother looks like they have downs-syndrome, which was sickening.

So while I am for stars to keep saying what they got to say on twitter especially in the case Mr Ferdinand they also should aware that being so open to the world also leaves them open to criticism i.e Mr Byfield.

As soon as KP signed up to twitter I thought he was an accident waiting to happen - he comes across as a well-meaning dimwit, never more than a few days away from some kind of media-related cock-up.

He was interviewed on Surrey tv earlier today and he doesn't even seem to realise that - unless you set it to private - twitter can be read by anyone, hence his bafflement at it 'ending up in the public domain', in his words. What an eejit.

The whole England team should be forced to use twitter. Particularly Ian Bell.

Sportsmen and women are free citizens in a liberal democracy here in the UK. Like every other citizen they then take responsibility for the choices they make. Just because Pietersen got it hideously wrong it doesn't mean that all have to live their in a sort of cyber solitary confinement.

Agree with the comments above, except James Walsh.

KP clearly recognises Twitter is public. What very cleraly happened was that the Tweet was actually either a text or a direct message that he misdirected. A similar (but easier to achieve) situation to me writing a private email and then accidentally posting it here.

Clearly I know this is public and what I was writing was private. I just made a possibly massive error and sent it to the wrong place.

Of course, KP by analogy made a massive error and should apologise, and then we should all move on.

@chariscroft

Hmmm, so you reckon he was trying to text his wife, or Darren Gough, and accidentally sent it to twitter?

Regardless, as I intimated above I don't think KP should be banned from twitter. I find the insight it provides fascinating, particularly in contrast to the official statements these players make to the media...

So much for the agent inspired loss of confidence press briefings/line being put about following his dismal summer performances. His appalling performances, with no effect on the (appearance/endorsement) money rolling into his accounts, show an huge over-confidence/arrogance of his personna that presume easy runs for little real application as reflected in his immediate 'twitter' reaction; just like his reaction to the ball & dismisal in the 1st innings. 4 gameswith Hampshire will not be enough....

Given that it adds to the gaiety of nations, it should be made compulsory.

There's that word again. I think people should be banned from using the word banned

It's hard to define but there is a sort of sporting equivalent of commercial confidentiality. Otherwise - for example - a football manager may as well talk to all his players at press conferences only.

I cannot believe this is even being debated. Why is the idea of banning people from doing things always the answer to a problem? I blame 13 years of new Labour who excelled at this. Stop telling people what to do!!!

I personally look forward to hearing Sir Ian Botham's "independent" comments on KP's dropping. Do we think he will make a critical comment about the new Surrey man? I think not.

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