AUSTIN, Texas -- High school recruits know that bad decisions can be costly ones when it comes to using Twitter. But what happens when it's adults -- the fans -- who are causing the problems?

A few members of Texas' 2014 class are having trouble with that issue. Perhaps it's because, as recruits who made commitments earlier (in August 2012) than any UT pledge ever had, they're put under the microscope much longer than most commits. Maybe it's because, as extra-early commits, the temptation to look around and take visits elsewhere can be a strong one at times, especially for indecisive teens.

Texas commit Demetrius Knox admits that name-calling on social media has an effect on him. Miller Safrit/ESPN.com

Demetrius Knox reads the message boards and knows some Longhorns fans assume he's going to jump ship before signing day. The Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints lineman received scrutiny for taking a junior day trip to Oklahoma in February. After Texas coach Mack Brown announced that his commits can no longer take visits elsewhere without jeopardizing their spot in the class, Knox acknowledged publicly that he plans to take an unofficial visit to Ohio State next month.

At first, Knox used the name-calling he received from fans online as motivation. Now it's becoming an irritation.

"I got a tweet not too long ago, right after a camp, that had a picture of me and Daniel [Gresham] that said, 'The only way these two play in DKR is if they come and visit,'" Knox said. "I was like, 'Wow, OK.' And that was from a Texas fan."

To some extent, Knox can understand why the Longhorns fan base is uneasy and prone to jumping to conclusions. Five recruits decommitted from Texas' 2013 class. Knox gets why people fear he's, in his words, going to "pull an A'Shawn" and back out at the last minute like A'Shawn Robinson did last month.

But that's perception, and Knox can only do so much on his Twitter account (@meechy77) to curb it. He tried setting his Twitter page to private once, but that lasted only two weeks. He enjoys the notoriety and attention his Texas pledge brings, and he's trying his best to stay mature and level-headed on the medium.

"Certain stuff like name-calling kind of hurts," he said. "I have to restrain myself from tweeting something back to that person. Everybody feels threatened that they're going to have another big-name decommit. That's understandable. But if I was going to do it, I would've done it by now."

His teammate and fellow Texas commit Daniel Gresham faced those same questions last week. After Alabama offered the All Saints back, he told Tide recruiting reporters the offer was a dream come true and that he'd pondered taking a visit someday.