Twitter has exploded from a small startup to a huge part of life for the 284 million users. But Tom Izzo is not one of them.
Izzo has spoken out many times against all forms of social media. For years Izzo has been saying that not only for his players Twitter is creating more problems than it is solving.
“I’m a social media basher,” Izzo said in February. “I hate it. I don’t think there’s any question that things have changed in the last three years.”
Izzo has gone through many steps to try to voice his frustration with social media. He sent an email to the Izzone during the 2011-12 season telling students to get off their phones and pay more attention to the game.
“I think it’s created a whole new problem,” he said. “I don’t think fans are much different than they were, except they are so ignorant on Twitter that now they figure they can do a little more face-to-face.”
In 2011 Izzo pleaded with his players to stay off Twitter during their Big Ten and NCAA Tournament run, and his players listened.
“Can I demand that they stay off the phones?” He said. “A couple of programs have done it. Would I be successful? Probably not.”
Izzo said the key to controlling his team’s social media use was education and not instilling a set of demands.
“What you got to do is educate them on why it would benefit them,” he said. “I think guys are seeing things a little differently now. That phone has become like a drug. We should phone test them.”
Izzo’s hatred of Twitter goes beyond the generational gap between him and his players. He said he thinks social media harms the players because it gives fans immediate access to send hateful tweets at them.
“If I called you what these kids get called 24/7, 365 days a year, you’d be fighting,” he said. “You’d be upset. You’d be bummed out.”
In the end, Izzo’s feelings about Twitter stem more from wanting to protect his players than not understanding the technology.
“I feel bad for the players,” he said. “I don’t feel bad for me, I get paid money to take your stuff, their stuff, my wife’s stuff, anybody else’s stuff. But they don’t.”
