Late-Night Tweeting May Affect Pro Basketball Players' Performance

Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
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Late-Night Tweeting May Affect Pro Basketball Players' Performance

Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

Professional athletes in the National Basketball Association may score fewer points and snag fewer rebounds the day after late-night activity on Twitter, a new study suggests.

Sleep researchers studied game performance to understand how late-night social media use and sleep deprivation might affect occupational and physical performance the following day.

“Most of us have these devices in our bedrooms and beds, and they interfere with our bedtime routines, keep us up at night and reduce our sleep quality,” said Lauren Hale of Stony Brook University in New York, in email to Reuters Health.

Hale’s team analyzed time-stamped tweets for 112 NBA players between 2009-2016 and looked at next-day points scored, rebounds, minutes played per game, turnovers, fouls and shooting accuracy.

To avoid the potential effects of travel or jetlag, they only analyzed games where East Coast players played East Coast players and West Coast players played West Coast players. They defined “late-night tweeting” as activity between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

They found that late-night tweeting was associated with fewer points scored and fewer rebounds the following day. Shooting accuracy seemed particularly affected: players made successful baskets at 1.7 percentage points less following late-night activity.

The pattern persisted when researchers looked only at tweets made between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Furthermore, players who were infrequent late-night tweeters were affected more than those who habitually stayed up and tweeted late at night frequently.

Late-night tweeting was also linked with less time played the next day.

The study can’t prove that late-night social media activity caused any of these outcomes. With regard to less time played, for example, “Maybe the coach sensed they were off, but maybe the player already knew they weren’t going to play much, and that’s why they stayed up late the night before the game,” Hale said.

Late-night tweeters also committed fewer turnovers and fouls, but that could be attributed to being less active on the court.

Hale and colleagues are continuing to study athletes, but they’re also focused on improving sleep for vulnerable populations such as shift workers and teens.

“We all need to sleep well and function during the day,” Hale said. “This (study in pro athletes) was a way to look at sleep and functioning in a way that speaks to a broader audience.”

“It’s also crucial to examine the association between the late-night use of different social media and accidents the following day among everyday citizens,” said sleep researcher Mohamed Arbi Mejri of the National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports in Tunis, Tunisia, in an email to Reuters Health. In earlier work, Mejri, who wasn’t involved with this study, found that one night of partial sleep deprivation could affect the performance of Taekwondo athletes the next day.

Mejri recommends good sleep hygiene, which includes putting devices away an hour before bedtime and eliminating screen light or blue light from the bedroom while sleeping.

“Even among elite performers, not getting enough sleep impairs next-day functioning,” Hale said. “If you want to be your best self every day, try putting away your phone at night.”



Milan’s Historic La Scala Cracks Down on Tourist Dress Code

Milan’s La Scala opera house is an important Italian music institution dating back to the 16th century (Getty Images)
Milan’s La Scala opera house is an important Italian music institution dating back to the 16th century (Getty Images)
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Milan’s Historic La Scala Cracks Down on Tourist Dress Code

Milan’s La Scala opera house is an important Italian music institution dating back to the 16th century (Getty Images)
Milan’s La Scala opera house is an important Italian music institution dating back to the 16th century (Getty Images)

A historic opera house in Milan has cracked down on patrons and tourists entering the prestigious venue wearing summer attire such as shorts, tank tops and flip flops, warning they will be turned away if not dressed appropriately.

The opera was seen as a symbol of wealth and exclusivity in 19th-century high society, and the bourgeois elite of this time period would have been expected to turn up in tailcoats, cravats and long evening dresses, The Independent newspaper wrote on Monday.

While this opulent attire is not expected of patrons nowadays, it said Milan’s Teatro alla Scala opera house, commonly known as La Scala, has recently reinforced its smart dress code in the wake of opera-goers turning up in casual summer fashion.

“The public is kindly requested to dress in keeping with the decorum of the theater, out of respect for the theater and for other viewers,” La Scala’s policy said.

“People wearing shorts or sleeveless T-shirts will not be allowed inside the auditorium; in this case, tickets will not be reimbursed.”

The venue also has signs around the foyer and on tickets stating the same message, warning patrons that they will not get a refund if they turn up wearing clothes not in keeping with the “decorum.”

The rules over informal clothing were first introduced in 2015 when the summer season coincided with the World Expo in Milan, as a way to deter the influx of tourists turning up in summer wear.

“There are no special dress code requirements at La Scala,” a spokesperson at the theater told The Independent. “We are delighted that some of our audience members consider an evening at La Scala to be a special occasion and dress accordingly, but our priority is to welcome everyone and make sure they feel comfortable.

“This is precisely why, in 2015, we introduced restrictions on clothing that could cause discomfort to other audience members who have to share the often limited space of an 18th-century theater.

“With the return of summer (an especially hot one), we reminded the audience of these rules, which have remained unchanged for ten years.

“It would not be right to tell spectators how to dress, but it is necessary that they do dress, as not to cause discomfort to other people,” the spokesperson added.

La Scala’s spokesman added that there had been a “change in behavior led by visitors who do not follow opera but see La Scala as a landmark.”