Manchester United today became the second EPL club to ban tweeting during press conferences.  Sunderland were the first and we could see the start of new code of use for the platform.  The clampdown appears to have come about on the back of TV/radio journalists complaining on the unfair advantage this gives as takes longer for their content to get out.

This media backlash can be seen as Twitter becoming a threat to traditional journalists who have, until now, had little competition.  The platform is used in different ways by different people but has rapidly become a news source for immediate breaking news.

Many of today’s press are on Twitter and a large proportion of stories featured in newspapers and on TV quote people from their Twitter updates.

In the US there is a twitter ban for players from 45mins pre-matches to the end of press commitments in the NFL and certain teams have banned it.  In the UK, Leicester Tigers have been the first to put an outright ban on players and the ECB is under pressure to do the same after recent faus pax by high profile players.

So, after the massive use of Twitter in an unregulated way are we now going to see beaurocracy take over and a move in the opposite direction.  There are still many who feel threatened by the new technology or don’t see its benefits and the recent examples will be used to help give them an excuse.

Where do you see this going?  Does using Twitter break any rules in press conferences?

Related posts: