Yesterday I read an article with the eye grabbing headline of ‘Ranger ban players from twitter”. It was a headline that grabbed my attention and took my mind back to similar headlines that flashed across our screens in 2010.
It originated from a Daily Record article discussing what had gone on in the dressing room after Rangers recent humiliating defeat by arch rivals Celtic. In it Walter Smith had laid into them and wanted them to regain their focus by;
- Warning that any player caught nightclubbing will face disciplinary action.
- Blasting the use of Twitter accounts.
- Barring his players from posting any inflammatory remarks.
- Ordering them to keep their private lives off the front pages.
The reason I have picked up on this headline is after numerous reports about players being banned from social networking sites over the last year or so. Examples that spring to mind are of the European Ryder Cup team being banned by Colin Montgomery from using twitter just before the event started.
The players then came out and said they hadn’t been banned. I for one followed the event on twitter with a list that included Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy. The following day Montgomery came out to clear up the comments and said that it was in relation to what is said in the inner sanctum that should be kept quiet and there was no ban.
We also had the ‘Manchester United Ban Twitter’ headline in January 2010. For one I cannot believe that Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney would have twitter accounts (would they…really?) and with the amount of fake accounts out there it is more likely they were taken down for that reason.
Not long after it came out that Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) was indeed on twitter and has not been banned from using the site. Until recently he has been the only United player to be using it until he was joined recently by Nani (@luisnani). Advised what to do on social networking sites I hope so, banned no.
One final example just to hammer home my point. After Kevin Pieterson was caught out making a not so pleasant remark about being dropped from the Twenty20 squad it was widely reported that players would be banned from twitter whilst away on England duty.
For anyone who was following the Ashes down under over the Christmas period you will know that this certainly wasn’t the case with KP (@kevinpp24), Stuart broad (@StuartBroad8), Tim Bresnan (@TimBresnan) and many others using it to keep fans up-to-date with what was happening away from the pitch.
In short it seems that we love that twitter brings us closer to the athletes than we have been since the days of Booby Moore and George Best and most journalists worth their salt use it to find and announce breaking news. BUT some are still obsessed with pushing them away and creating a climate of fear amongst authorities about players having some freedom of expression.
When the media whips up a storm about a player saying something out of turn, no matter how quickly it is retracted then it all over the front and back pages. What choice do the governing bodies and clubs have but to react and appear to be at least doing something about it?
The NGB’s and clubs should be helping players and offering some guidance/training on how to use them for good. As we see in the US with the NBA where the players are helping to spread news about the sport and bringing more fans in, should this not be the same with football, cricket, rugby and other sports?
Rant over but I hope you get my point!
Hi Sean
Apologies for coming across harshly in the post, it was not the intention of the article to knock your own work. A little on what the background to it was… as I said above there have been many headlines by mainstream media about players being banned from twitter. Having worked and spoken with many clubs/organisations and seen the tweets after the bans I know that these don't exist.
The 'rant' from myself was against the doomsday headlines that appear every few weeks involving a different team or body within sport. I work with people on the use of social media and education of athletes, something that is in its infancy so I know the challenges being faced. For some players it is a personal decision to stop tweeting as they get fed up with the abuse from fans and/or pressure from within. For example when Darren Bent stopped to concentrate on Sunderlands fight at the end of last season before coming back.
As I said the aim was to highlight the headlines and not lay into your article at all. 99% of things I write are trying to look at positive influences and changes in this area rather than the easier task of mocking and knocking (I leave that one to the tabloids who have many years more experience in that field!) for example the recent Arsenal article.
Interesting reading of your last article on 'selling tweets' as I work for a business with many sports club/player sponsorships and this is a new area that I think we will see more of. Be interesting to talk to you more on this.
As I said, any inaccuracies I apologise for. The posts on this site are my opinion of the world of digital and sport and how I see it – I never pretend to be a fully fledged journalist but someone who has a deep interest in the field and its expansion within our society.
Dan
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the reply, and I appreciate the explanation.
I agree with a lot of what you have said, especially since Twitter gives fans so much more access and insight into players lives off the pitch – it's a shame to see it portrayed negatively etc. But equally as you mention (and my point in my article), I understand the importance of educating clubs/athletes as we've seen in other industries that social media can be dangerous when it goes wrong. I don't believe in bans at all, but we need more clubs to listen to the likes of yourself and understand the very real power of a digital presence. Plus I couldn't help myself, being a Celtic fan and all lol.
Would love to chat on the selling tweets concept, think it's a bit dangerous, will be interesting to see how the NBA team I talked about delivers it. I think we're a few months away from that just yet though. I must try get to the next socmed/sports meet-up/summit/chat, so hopefully I'll see you about at one of those.
Great to be able watch UK Sports just start to get more involved in the digital world. Particularly interested to see where that leaves the traditional press!
PS.
I should note as well, as stated in my article, that I am against banning players from Twitter – that was the whole point of it. Bit harsh to post this up, inaccurately andnot discuss it with me – always happy to have a healthy debate about these things via Twitter.
Cheers!
In reference to my blog post, I should point out that your criticism is unfair and inaccurate.
The referred tweet from Maurice Edu, comes from February 20th and was before that derby game, not the most recent one on March 2nd. Anyone who follows the Scottish players scene intensely will know that notable Rangers Tweeters (mainly @lafferty27 and @mauriceedu) have both stopped tweeting altogether. As my article suggests, the most "likely cause" – not fact, as you inaccurately quote – was due to a PR review having had several players get caught up in some silly tweeting action.
Yes the club has made no official response, but it doesn't take a genius to see that clearly the club has had words, particularly when you consider Maurice Edu has nearly 7,000 tweets and over 400k followers and has suddenly stopped tweeting altogether. The same goes for Lafferty, who presumably either through cowardice or a telling off, has not tweeted since his infamous controversary after the Jan 2nd Glasgow Derby.
I think you're right about them needing some sort of media training (although I believe that this happens in most clubs). The main problem appears to be a lack of common sense from players (we know that this seems to be in short supply). Clearly people are interested but the players must now know that they are in the spotlight.