Too much of a distraction, or a way to keep normalcy in high-pressure situations?

On Saturday, LeBron James took to his social media accounts to announce that he’ll no longer be taking to his social media accounts — at least for the duration of the NBA Playoffs. It’s called Zero Dark Thirty-23.

According to Joe Vorden of Cleveland.com, “James has been doing this since 2012 – the year Zero Dark Thirty, the movie about Navy SEALs’ hunt for Osama bin Laden was released – and has never won a championship without it.”

Whether it’s to mitigate distraction, or if it has now become superstition, it seems to be working for the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar (who wears number 23.)

The use of social media by athletes has always been a hot topic, as one slip of the Twitter finger can cause a stream of bad press for a team, a school, an athlete, or even a country.

With Rio 2016 set to be the most social Olympics yet, we wanted to understand how Team Canada athletes are using different platforms leading up to, and during, the Olympics.

Blacking out

Track and field athlete and avid vlogger Justyn Warner says, “Yes, I do social media blackouts before nationals every year and then I will before Rio. I still vlog and post footage [but] I just don’t go on and read comments or posts.”

Basically, his social media use becomes a one-way street.

During the regular season, javelin thrower Liz Gleadle shares a lot of training and recovery moments on her road to Rio.

“Yes, I will be blacking out, haven’t exactly decided how much in advance… But most likely 48 hours.” She cites being cautious about other people’s excitement, comments and concern as part of the reason for staying away.

Similarly, wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy will take time away from doing media appearances about a month before Rio. Personal social media use, however, seems to be something he can still manage, as he replied to us, via Twitter, on the day of his 11th-place finish at the Boston Marathon.

Business as usual

Other Canadian athletes don’t find social media a distraction, but as a way to calm their nerves pre-competition.

Long distance runner Lanni Marchant shares “intimate” moments via her social media.

Marchant says she’ll probably continue sharing as usual during the Games, although she tends to not check the night before or the day of her event to avoid getting caught up in the hype.

Some athletes, such wrestler Korey Jarvis, are really trying to amp up their social media presence pre-Games in order to gain sponsorships and to pump up their name and sport.

During last summer’s Pan Am Games, race walker Evan Dunfee used his social media to insure that CBC Sports was streaming his event.

We can expect Dunfee to maintain the status quo as he says heading into Rio he’ll “be consciously putting effort into not doing anything differently.”

Article Written By: Tanya Casole-Gouveia