According to the Sydney Morning Herald, two Australian swimmers for the Olympic team of 2012 are in hot water (yes, pun intended) after posing for photos with guns and sharing them on their social media sites.
After being forced to remove the allegedly compromising photos from Facebook and Twitter, athletes Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk were warned that such behavior would not be acceptable when they join the Australian Olympic team in London.
2012 London Olympic athletes are beholden to a strict set of guidelines for social media and although the Australian swimmers are not officially under the regulations of the International Olympic Committee(IOC) as of now, they are still representing the larger Olympic community and Swimming Australia (The national swimming organization for Australia). These Athletes have to behave according to the standards set up by those organizations, meaning that they are highly valued for their talent but unable to be fully transparent for fear of misrepresenting the larger brands.
Tough for those guys, but what does that mean for me as an independent new media artist?
This is a great example of the freedom you enjoy as an independent artists. You have the ability to be as transparent as you want, without the burden of representing the brand that sponsors you.You are displaying your talent on platform that does not make you chained to a contract outlining a long list of “do’s” and “don’ts” that even inhibit your freedom of expression on your private Social Media Accounts.
Even though these athletes are not traditional media artists, they are examples of people with extraordinary talent that are held to a certain standard put forth by the organizations that they represent. They are told what they can post on their private Facebooks and how they should behave, because they represent a larger organization.
All that to say, rejoice in your independence new media artists!
Source: smh.com.au
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I’m not sure holding guns is that offensive. I think it’s the fact that the higher-ups are old and not tech savvy, so when they see something like this they freak out.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, we are all desensitized these days. How many jokes have you heard about “regular porn” not being enough to get off? Have you ever seen the episode of South Park when no one has internet? Stan’s dad is watching some of the sickest porn ever, but he has to so he can get off. The so-called “standard” in pornography just isn’t enough because we are exposed to so much in the media whether it be online, television or magazines.
To make my point, we are all desensitized and things just don’t bother us like they use to. It’s the people like the “old non-tech savvy” that are shocked by things like this and react. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m sure their social media fans weren’t pissed or offended by the photos – were they?
More and more people, not just Olympic team members, are being told what they can say, how they can say it, and these people are doing as they are told. Give me real over fake any day.