It is running with the slogan "Are you going to tweet or are you going to compete?" but the Australian Olympic Commission "will not contemplate a blanket ban on social media use for athletes during next year's Rio Games," according to Carly Adno of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Some Australian Olympic athletes "feared a crackdown of social media use at the Olympics, but instead they will be educated about the possible pitfalls of using it during competition." AOC Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller believes social media distractions "may have cost Australia medals at the London Olympics, and as a result each sporting body has been tasked with formulating a social media plan." Swimmer Emily Seebohm was one athlete who "admitted to being distracted by social media in London." But other athletes, like Hockeyroo Anna Flanagan, said that the use of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook "provides a valuable outlet during competition." Chiller said that she "encouraged the responsible use of social media." Chiller: “It’s a fantastic way to promote our fantastic athletes and our fantastic teams and for individuals also to thank the people that have supported them. ... The AOC is not being Big Brother at all -- what we're doing is educating our sports and our athletes, alerting them to the fact that this can be distracting and your sports and yourselves as individuals should come up with a social media plan." Under IOC regulations athletes are not permitted to take videos inside the athletes village, "but fans will still be able to get an inside look into it through photos, which can be freely distributed" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 12/29). In a separate piece, Adno reported Hockeyroos "glamour girl" Flanagan warned that cracking down on social media use would be a "disservice to the sport." Flanagan said that it would be "disappointing if the athletes' use of it during the Olympics became over-regulated, partly because it would deprive the public of some priceless moments." Flanagan's Australian women's hockey teammates Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris became Internet "sensations during the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 when Queen Elizabeth II photobombed their selfie." There has also been talk of "not allowing Australian athletes to wander freely around Rio given the dangers in the city," but that is a regulation that would not worry Flanagan. She said, "To be honest, when I went to the London Olympics, I didn't want to leave the athletes' village -- it's like its own little world. It's so amazing, just the amount of athletes, and I guess it is a bit of a freak show because you've got the most extremes in body types and personalities and athletes from different countries" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 12/29).
