I don't mean to be disingenuous, but I am pretty certain that this player honestly believed that he would be asked questions like "who snores the loudest on away trips" or "what is your favourite flavour Monster Munch". Despite this player's performances being under par, in spite of his recent spate of goals, in an average Championship side, I would happily wager that he did not expect questions relating to his form, the form of his team-mates, and further, that of his team.
Which is a pity, because those are the kinds of questions that he did get; some from genuinely concerned supporters, some maybe tinged with sarcasm. Needless to say, those questions went unanswered, and in fact, were retweeted, probably under some misguided notion that the player felt "picked on".
Footballers are not like us ordinary folk. They lead sheltered lives, to an extent, and then use their status to live the kind of lives us mere mortals can dream of. Footballers of even a modest level can hide behind their clubs, their agents, and various PR people. Social networking can seem, to players and fans alike, a great way of engaging with each other, but it is also presents potential problems. Time and time again, some footballers have shown that despite all of their training and advice, they are not able to engage constructively with members of the public.
If this player did not want to answer questions relating to his and his club's on-field performances, he could have avoided it by adding a simple caveat to his initial invitation.
If he had inadvertently omitted to do this, he could have tweeted after receiving awkward questions, that he could not, or was not able to discuss these matters.
However, by retweeting those questions without a reply, he has made himself out to be a victim, whether intentionally or not, and set genuinely concerned fans, who will be with his club long after he has left, up to be abused.
Not a great way of dealing with fans who are already struggling to justify his inclusion in their team's line-up.
Interesting stuff. I think the opportunity for Footballers to get it right on social media is huge, however very few do and that is a shame. Most use it to say look at me talking to that other player that never engages with Joe Public, and if you look at who these people follow, its probably the contents of their phone book. Conclusion: Just ring each other!
ReplyDeleteWith the player in question, I think he's done well to come on to twitter again and to invite questions as that’s what we want, but “we” must remember two things.
1- players are media trained/ and or told not to speak in any negative context about their employer so the days of any controversy coming from our "heroes" are long since gone (shame). Plus they do get a lot of crap thrown at them from keyboard warriors so they won't give them ammo by saying "we aren't very good", the results show us that afterall.
2- footballers as a rule are not intelligent enough to debate with "us", they don’t have to be intelligent day to day as 99% of their conversation above the "i love this club" media crap is what they affectionately know as "banter" or "bants" (*throws up).
The combination of these two things lead to dull twitter threads across all footballers containing mostly RT’s from desperate fans wanting an invite round to a players house for a Sunday roast.
If players could get social media right and use it for proper engagement rather than ego wanks then it would be a lot more interesting for all parties.
I agree; that's why a simple caveat in respect of point 1 would have sufficed, and would have been understood. It would have prevented point 2.
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