KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Softball has made a decision to limit its time on social media to focus more on the season and the team.
The team is 32-7 and currently leads the SEC standings, looking to go back-to-back as SEC champions. The players decided to limit social media time after watching a documentary called "The Social Dilemma." According to head coach Karen Weekly, the team has been watching the documentary before every season in recent years.
"The interesting thing is there are people in that room that have seen it three or four times," Weekly said.
Weekly asked the team if they got energy from watching social media, and they said they did not. So, she asked them why spent 25 - 30 hours every week on it.
As a result, they decided it was best to limit the time. They have a spreadsheet that pitcher Carli Orsini is in charge of that tracks the amount of time players have spent on social media. She sends out the spreadsheet every week and everyone responds. The check-ins happen every Sunday night and designated player Zaida Puni said nobody has gone over on hours.
She is proud everyone has bought into what they are supposed to do.
"Coming together and deciding to limit our social media hours was probably one of the best things we have done this season," she said. "Just because of last season and all the rankings, the polls people put us at, it was a distraction — us limiting our hours was good for us."
She said it has allowed the team to feel closer to one another, and also spend time with one another. That is something Weekly hopes will make a difference.
"If we are not on social media as much maybe we will spend more time with our teammates and make deeper connections and deeper relationships because those are the people we will need to go to when things get tough," she said.
The Lady Vols play No. 7 LSU at home for a three-game series starting on Friday night at 6 p.m.
