Is social media a negative form of communication for sports professionals?

A couple of weeks ago, Liverpool player Ryan Babel hit the headlines for complaining that he had been left out of the squad for his team's match against Stoke City on social networking site Twitter. "The Boss left me out," Babel told his Twitter feed, "No explanation." At the start of the season, Sunderland striker Darren Bent also complained on the social networking site about his previous club Tottenham Hotspur. The pair of them were reprimanded for their use of Twitter. Last week, the Manchester Evening News went on to claim that Manchester City and Manchester United had placed a ban on social media, which since has been denied.

On a personal level as a Liverpool FC fan, I believe that it was wrong for Ryan Babel to publicly criticise the club and manager for being left out the squad. The reason for this is that firstly, I believe that he did not do himself any favours by posting his opinions on Twitter. Secondly, it was wrong for him to openly be disrespectful to his employers in the public eye, considering that they are the ones who pay his wages.

However, on the grander scale of it all, websites such as Twitter give millions of sports fans the chance to debate, discuss and interact with their sporting idols every day. If sports clubs were to ban players from using social media, it would put up a brick wall between the two. Social Media is a gateway for sports clubs and professionals to better engage with their supporters, wherever they may be.

A better way to encourage the use of social media such as Twitter, would be to draw up a series strict guidelines, so for example, players cannot talk about internal matters or team selection like Ryan Babel did for instance. As a result, sporting professionals would be able to communicate with their supporters, whilst minimising the risk of sensitive information being leaked.

Is Twitter pointless?

Ricky Gervais has quit Twitter, branding the network site as pointless and the adults that use it as "undignified". Twitter is a free social networking and micro blogging service that allows users to send and receive messages called "tweets". Since its creation in 2006, the website has gained plaudits and popularity worldwide as an information network keeping everyone up to date with what is happening in the world.

The reason for the famous British comedian quitting Twitter is that he just didn’t "get it". He understood it being used as a fun networking device for teenagers, but felt that it was a bit undignified for adults to be using it, in particular celebrities who seem to be showing off using the networking site. He is the latest in a long line of celebrities who have stopped tweeting, including the likes of Miley Cyrus who exclaimed that Twitter should be "banned from the universe".

I do agree to a certain extent with Ricky Gervais that Twitter can be pointless, in terms of people, famous or otherwise posting updates on what they have been doing. I mean who really cares if Jonathan Ross for instance posts a tweet saying that he’s just had breakfast and a cup of coffee, I certainly don’t! However the point that the likes of Ricky Gervais and Miley Cyrus seem to be missing is that Twitter is much more than just that and the networking site can be used in a greater breadth than just tweeting lifestyle updates.

Twitter has actively played a part in campaigning, education, emergencies, politics and many more fields. During the 2008 Mumbai attacks eyewitnesses sent an estimated 80 tweets every 5 seconds. Twitter users on the ground helped compile a list of the dead and injured. Furthermore, users sent out vital information such as emergency phone numbers and locations of hospital needing blood donations. CNN went as far to call this "the day that social media appeared to come of age" since many different groups made significant use of Twitter to gather news and coordinate responses. In June 2009, following allegations of fraud in the Iranian presidential election, protesters used Twitter as a rallying tool and as a method of communication with the outside world after the government blocked several other modes of communication.

These examples show Twitter‘s vital contribution in everyday life, as a vital information networking tool. In Public Relations, Twitter is becoming an ever important communication device for businesses and government to promote their work effectively. Democratic president Barrack Obama effectively used the site for publicity in the 2008 US presidential campaign to his advantage, showing that Twitter is an essential PR tool in reaching a wider audience.

So, is Twitter pointless...no it isn’t!