Social media in sports is a powerful tool for athletes, teams, and organizations. It allows them to communicate with fans and share content, fostering engagement and bringing new audiences into the sport. But it can also distract from training and impact athletic performance.

Athletes can also leverage their online presence to humanize themselves and their brands. By sharing personal social media content like behind-the-scenes moments or locker room banter, athletes can draw fans into their sport and build long-term loyalty. It also empowers them to advocate for important issues and cause awareness about social problems. For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily suspended many athletic competitions, triathlete Jan Frodeno adapted his training regimen by using a home countercurrent pool and a bike roller to complete his race—and raised funds for hospitals and the Laureus Foundationopen_in_new.

While social media has a lot to offer for athletes and sports teams, it’s crucial that youth and high school coaches, athletes, and their families understand the negative effects of excessive usage on their mental health and athletic performance. For example, studies have shown that frequent scrolling on social media prior to training is associated with lower point production in NBA players and poorer performances during endurance testing and vertical jump tests for college swimmers.

While banning phones from team settings isn’t an effective solution, it’s critical that youth and high school sports coaches and athletes lead the charge to get phones out of training sessions and educate their athletes about how to use social media in a healthy way. This includes creating clear contracts and expectations with influencers that include deliverables, timelines, compensation, and metrics.