The impact of Twitter as a whole cannot be understated. The social networking phenomenon currently has over 170 million users and reportedly sees over 250 million tweets per day. The world seems to have embraced Twitter and it would be naïve to think that Football was behind on this trend. Far from it in fact.
At various points during this Monday’s Premier League game between Manchester City and Chelsea the popularity of Football amongst the Twitter community was evident. ‘Balotelli’, ‘John Terry’, Ray Wilkins’, ‘Blue is the Colour’ and others were trending worldwide. Meaning that they were some of the most used words or phrases on Twitter in the world at that time. But with Football having this big an influence on Twitter, it was only a matter of time before Twitter began to actually influence Football.
On January the 9th, 2011, Kenny Dalglish made his return to management as his Liverpool side lost an FA Cup third round tie away at Manchester United. But what was just as newsworthy was what transpired after the game. In the aftermath Liverpool’s Ryan Babel became the first player to be fined by the FA for comments made on Twitter.
Babel took to the site to complain about referee Howard Webb’s performance in the game, and even published a doctored picture of the official wearing a Man United shirt. The FA set a precedent with this and suddenly Twitter became just as important as the post-match interview when it comes to potentially getting you into trouble.
On the back of this incident the FA Regulatory committee confirmed “Social network sites must be regarded as being in the public domain. All participants need to be aware, in the same way as if making a public statement in other forms of media, that any comments would be transmitted to a wider audience. It is their responsibility to ensure only appropriate comments are used."
This isn’t an isolated incident. The likes of Jack Wilshere (@jack_wilshere), Kaka (@kaka) and many others have got into hot water for taking to Twitter straight after a game to vent. This highlights perhaps what is the main negative aspect that Twitter has. To a certain extent it’s easy to see how players can get in trouble as they don’t have time to calm down and compose themselves. They have instant access to thousands (in some cases millions) of fans.
Another way Twitter can influence a game is through a little bit of pre-game banter. In years gone by a player could comment on the opposition in a newspaper interview, or mind games could come from a managers press conference.
Now players can instantly talk to each other in the full view of all their fans. Only in the time we now live could Jack Wilshere and Jermain Defoe (@iamjermaindefoe) make a bet on who is going to finish higher in the league. Or at least, only in the time we live could they have done this so publicly.
In 2009 Darren Bent (@DBTT39) even used the site to help engineer the transfer he wanted. Fed up with the way his move from Tottenham was going, Bent directed an angry tirade at Spurs Chairmen Daniel Levy. The striker Tweeted: “Do I wanna go to Hull City NO. Do I wanna go to stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around levy”.
Bent later got his move to Sunderland, further proof of the way Twitter can be physically used within the game. If Darren Bent hadn’t made his feelings so public, rendering a move to Hull City or Stoke impossible, then who knows where he could have ended up?
We probably shouldn’t be so quick to knock Twitter though. If we are willing to put up with these negatives then there are positives to be taken too.
The days of players being at such a distance are gone. The average football fan with a smartphone can be doing the weekly shop and still have the ability to send a message direct to the phone or computer of Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton).
Manchester United fans can currently follow 14 members of their first team squad on Twitter. Ten years ago you would know about Rio Ferdinand through seeing him in a paper being interviewed or reported on. Now, following him on Twitter and you will know all about where he is, what he’s doing, his thoughts on the most recent United game and how training went that day.
It may not be ground breaking, but he’ll also fill you in on his new magazine, phone app and even his thoughts on Eastenders and the X-Factor. This is the kind of interactivity fans have never previously experienced with players.
Twitter is also now one of the primary sources for football news. All major news outlets can be followed on Twitter (including this one - @90minutesonline) meaning that information is available faster than ever before.
It would be difficult to debate for or against Twitter being good for football. In the same way that we couldn’t really argue over if the weather is good for football. In that both are here to stay regardless. Twitter has literally integrated itself into the fabric of the world, let alone the game. Since it’s now difficult to avoid, it may be easier just to cave in and embrace it. Then maybe, you too, can know what Robbie Savage had for his tea.