How Has Social Media Changed Being a Football Fan?

[Pretty Boy]

I don't think there can be any real argument that the explosion of social media over the last couple of decades has massively shifted the fan experience. Different demographics utilise different forms, I think we have a bit of an older demographic on a site like this whilst the likes of TikTok captures the imagination of the younger team and the ultras scene and so on. Even those who steer clear of it are still, consciously or subconsciously, aware of of the content. There is every chance the transfer rumour you hear down the pub on a Saturday originated on Twitter some time in the preceding week.

There is now a scrutiny on performances and stats that simply did not exist even a decade or so ago. In the grand scheme of things Hibs are a relatively small club and we have 2 active fans forums, countless Facebook pages and groups, a core of very vocal fans on twitter who dominate discussion about Hibs, several podcasts as well as an active in house social media department. When you scale that up to the likes of Manchester United or Liverpool the reach is quite literally millions of people. There is a lot to like about that. There is some fantastic content produced online, information is at hand to prove or disprove a viewpoint quickly, a lot of the discussion is well informed and interesting and it's also forced clubs to be more transparent in their own content. Fans now arguably have a greater insight into the inner workings of their club than ever before; there is still obviously a lot fans don't know or entirely misunderstand but nonetheless we get official snippets now that just didn't translate as well in a David Hardie article in the EEN in 1995.

I do find the ability to drag up opinions from a long time ago is tiresome and potentially troubling. It creates a situation in which grudges can be harboured and allowed to drag on for too long. There is almost no allowance for the fact that people can and do change their minds. In broader society it's troubling when a mistake or daft opinion at 16 can be used as reasoning to sack someone at 30, when it comes to football it's just a bit daft that what someone thought in 2018 can be cast up with no context to prove a point in 2023. I can't help but think if someone tried to do that in a pub they would be told to shut up and stop being a boring *******. I also wonder how much of someones online fandom is playing a character. I know people who offer very different opinions on social media from what they express privately when it comes to football. More widely I sometimes feel the reach of social media makes being right more important than actually assessing an argument as it's presented and admitting you could be wrong. Perhaps the unforgiving nature mentioned above whereby a previous opinion would be thrown back rather than such an admission being accepted gracefully plays a part.

I'm not sure social media has created the boo boy. I daresay guys like Joe Tortolano and more recently Stuart Lovell would argue a need for a scapegoat and the ability for such things to build a head of steam existed long before social media use was widespread. Equally though I don't think it helps, there is a snowball effect that sees the same criticism voiced across several platforms and a vocal minority comes to dominate discussions. The reaction to this often leads to people becoming almost blind to anything that isn't said criticism; I find that to be particularly true on here, a thread that has only a handful of negative comments suddenly becomes 'this place is so negative' as though the majority of comments arguing against the negativity or taking a more neutral stance simply don't exist. It's exceptionally toxic and creates a circularity that is hard to overcome.

Finally I think social media has made a lot of the old stalwarts of football media obsolete. In my late teens Soccer AM was must watch and features like the 'Third Eye' were great. Today everyone and their dog has seen a funny clip within seconds of it happening, a TV show just doesn't have that instant reactivity. See also the decline if viewing figures for Football Focus, the rise of club and fan led content means it just doesn't offer anything new nowadays. I cant remember the last time I watched Sportscene, I can see highlights on YouTube, alternative viewpoints highlights from Hibs own social media and get post match interviews likewise.

I'm curious as to whether others feel social media as a whole has enhanced their fan experience or made it worse? For me despite it's drawbacks (which I have focused on more than the positives) it's still overall something I enjoy and I feel the positives still just about outweigh the negatives.

[Brightside]

tl:dr

[jacomo]

The giant social media companies crave engagement so they can sell advertising and make money. Nothing engages like outrage or anger, so they deliberately chase and promote these emotions. So do influencers and media personalities.

Much coverage of football on these sites is just that, rewarding morons to get angry.

But Hibs.net is also social media. Forums were the precursor of the early social media giants, and then every one that followed. And I like Hibs.net.

Also, social media has killed the newspaper industry, and I’m nostalgic for the days when the Scotsman and EEN might have 3 or 4 journalists all writing stories on Hibs.

[Bostonhibby]

The giant social media companies crave engagement so they can sell advertising and make money. Nothing engages like outrage or anger, so they deliberately chase and promote these emotions. So so influencers and media personalities.

Much coverage of football on these sites is just that, rewarding morons to get angry.

But Hibs.net is also social media. Forums were the precursor of the early social media giants, and then every one that followed. And I like Hibs.net.

Also, social media has killed the newspaper industry, and I’m nostalgic for the days when the Scotsman and EEN might have 3 or 4 journalists all writing stories on Hibs.This is where I am, I recognise the model you describe and how it works. It's driven me to stick to Hibs.net in the main for my main Hibs related activity as I genuinely enjoy most aspects of it.

I read quite a bit of the other stuff I'm sent but never participate on other social media.



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[Bishop Hibee]

For me, in general I’d call it a positive. I find Hibs official Twitter feed particularly useful. Team news on a match day an hour before kick off at your fingertips for example. Hibs.net is a great community in general and raises good money for the club.

I don’t buy a Sunday paper anymore and this means it’s not so easy to see all the scores and teams line ups from up and down the country at a glance. Harder work on the internet.

What it’s amazing for is coverage of European and world football particularly fan culture. I was obsessed with the COPA90 channel on YouTube during lockdown and if anyone hasn’t watched the videos on it, I’ve never seen a bad one. The Real Betis one with Hector Bellerin is superb.

[Pretty Boy]

For me, in general I’d call it a positive. I find Hibs official Twitter feed particularly useful. Team news on a match day an hour before kick off at your fingertips for example. Hibs.net is a great community in general and raises good money for the club.

I don’t buy a Sunday paper anymore and this means it’s not so easy to see all the scores and teams line ups from up and down the country at a glance. Harder work on the internet.

What it’s amazing for is coverage of European and world football particularly fan culture. I was obsessed with the COPA90 channel on YouTube during lockdown and if anyone hasn’t watched the videos on it, I’ve never seen a bad one. The Real Betis one with Hector Bellerin is superb.

The part about not buying a paper now is true for me as well. In days gone by I bought a paper daily and flitted between my brand of choice. On a Sunday I'd often buy the Times, Scotland on Sunday, Observer and Sunday Mail and read them over the course of a couple of days. That's about a tenners worth of newspapers. Now I wouldn't look twice at the paper rack.

It's the same with so called legacy media. There are a few shows I still watch, primarily quizzes, but there is such a wide range of content available online these days that I can get my fill elsewhere. I have a couple of niche interests and the content created on YouTube exceeds anything you find on TV. I often feel the same about football, I'd rather read what a fan has to say, even if I heartily disagree, than read something fed to a journo by the club or something created solely with the intent of stirring up bother or being controversial.

[Broken Gnome]

I'm not targeting one post or poster, but there's a comment on another thread about Obita's booking which is a good example for me - the most throwaway or typical pieces of play or incidents can now be microanalysed to extents that never ever used to be the case, at least amongst supporters.

It's easy for that to snowball too far beyond how badly a player has actually performed. You could read a match thread of not at the came, and two people muttering 'FFS Rocky' over a sclaffed but harmless clearance can really have an impact on how you perceive a game to be going.

You don't need to look far on here for the belief that some negative posters are quite repetitive and entrenched in their views. That's not really the case in reality, but you also see it when you'd imagine Hibs' name is dirt for thousands based on a Twitter reaction - can be quite hard not to be swept up in negativity, would be the main impact for me.

[Bridge hibs]

I have never done Tik Tok, X/Twitter, Whatsap or anything like that and reading about those platforms on here tells me Im not missing anything

Funny thing is I remember when mobile phones started to take off and I said I would never have one as Im not having people keeping tabs on me, I got through life without one so didnt feel the need. My Wife however had other ideas and bought me a cheapo pay as you go Motorolla as my first phone and it was all downhill from there

That said, the graphics and HD quality nowadays is just like having a pocket tv, press a button and you are instantly connected to the outside world. I feel I have turned full circle with my phone or lap top now though, lap top is barely used and mostly only for accessing here and when on holiday I never look at my phone other than checking for football results by using the Live score app which even shows highlights of games

With regards newspapers, I would religiously buy the EEN but eventually stopped as it was just full of gash and adverts. When younger our Dad bought the Sunday Mail and Sunday post so we had to wait in turn by seniority before we could get our hands on the papers, Dad first but he would spend an hour in the cludgie before he passed them onto Mum then Brother before I got my hands on them 🤬

[A Hi-Bee]

"The times they are'a changing" some things better and some things just crap, "I want it now" generation I only read about Hibs and not so fussed where it originates. although "You can't always get what you want" sometimes the old is better but I do like that I can watch more highlights, even if I was at the game.
Also a lot of negatives, and social media is just another form for the Murdochs of this world, and even more non entities to make cash.
Or is it "Just my imagination" that things were better in days gone by. Perhaps "living in the past". Just think about the poor young rugby player who scored an own
goal or their equivelent, FFS its been viewed more than 5million times, and the plonker ref says he will learn from it. It could be a "long and winding road" back for the young guy, best of luck to him. So social media pro's and con's with perhaps the pro's just shading it.
Interesting thread.......

[Keith_M]

I think I'll leave it to the younger generation to decide if Social Media is a good thing for football, or even in general, but personally I now avoid it as much as possible, mostly for the reasons raised in the OP.

It's much more reserved on here but I do find it a bit disturbing, occasionally, when some posters get a bee in their bonnet about certain players (and head coaches). You get the same thing occasionally at games but it's easier to ignore than it is when it's repeated ad-infinitum on social media.

The negativity from certain posters can get a bit draining occasionally as well. Weirdly enough, I've met a few people on here that come under that category, but are actually nothing like that in person.

[Lago]

I look back with fondness to a cold November Saturday night, standing outside a Kirkcaldy newsagents waiting for the Evening News van to arrive with the "Pink", no social media has ever replaced that weekly ritual for me, but then I'm aging and allowed a touch of nostalgia.

[Sauerkraut]

Congrats on starting a thought-provoking midweek thread. It goes way beyond Hibs of course, but is interesting all the same.

I'm so old that I conflate 'internet' with 'social media', which I'm sure many will find forehead-slapping. I worked in Chicago in the late 90's and had a small shortwave radio which went on Saturday mornings CT and burped and fuzzed away all afternoon. Very occasionally I got the scores. Phonecalls home were of unreliable help and Mondays often meant queueing up at the only externally connected dial-up office terminal. If I remember correctly, we got relegated one year then had a good season and won Div1/Championship.

If that's a digression, it just goes to show where we've got to in 25 years, and I'm in awe of the reach into football that IT now has. I'm football fan enough to feel that matters positively, particularly the ability to interchange opinions with opponents, as recently seen with Aston Villa and Dundee (who really 'hates' them? Isn't it about time.......?).

But the downside has to be the ease with which criticism of players, staff and officials, with little or no accountabilty or recourse, can be expressed. Often misinformed, sometimes discriminatory, usually cruel and nearly always unjustified. Once again, the word 'hate' comes to the fore. Hate damages society and offers nothing to the future.

Which of us has never sighed, head in hands, conferred with the heavens, at the errors or antics of one of our own. But next week they play a blinder and we love them. Peace, man.

Answer the question? Here goes....social media should be regulated to the extent that anything which predicates on hate should lead to exclusion and/or prosecution. Meanwhile unnecessary and unjustified criticism stopping short of hate, I guess it's probably up to the rest of us just to moderate and discourage.

Glory glory 🇳🇬

[Alfred E Newman]

There can be no doubt that the short lifetime of managers nowadays is largely down to pressure from fans on social media.

[Skol]

I look back with fondness to a cold November Saturday night, standing outside a Kirkcaldy newsagents waiting for the Evening News van to arrive with the "Pink", no social media has ever replaced that weekly ritual for me, but then I'm aging and allowed a touch of nostalgia.

Those were the days, get a good first half report then the second half in two sentences as the journalist hit their deadline. . Get the Sunday papers on the way home and read them, and get value with a second reading the morning after.

I don’t and never have done social media unless you count hibs.net and a few similar sites of a sporting nature.

For me it’s not just social media or the internet, it’s tv as well. I loved when sky and regular football arrived. Now I look back on the days of cup finals and internationals only on the telly and nights spent listening to the commentary on the radio. Or leaving Easter road and finding a guy with a radio held to his ear so you could hear the scores come through.

[Lago]

Those were the days, get a good first half report then the second half in two sentences as the journalist hit their deadline. . Get the Sunday papers on the way home and read them, and get value with a second reading the morning after.

I don’t and never have done social media unless you count hibs.net and a few similar sites of a sporting nature.

For me it’s not just social media or the internet, it’s tv as well. I loved when sky and regular football arrived. Now I look back on the days of cup finals and internationals only on the telly and nights spent listening to the commentary on the radio. Or leaving Easter road and finding a guy with a radio held to his ear so you could hear the scores come through.
We are a dieing breed, but those were happy days before the advent of the keyboard warrior 👍

[Bostonhibby]

Those were the days, get a good first half report then the second half in two sentences as the journalist hit their deadline. . Get the Sunday papers on the way home and read them, and get value with a second reading the morning after.

I don’t and never have done social media unless you count hibs.net and a few similar sites of a sporting nature.

For me it’s not just social media or the internet, it’s tv as well. I loved when sky and regular football arrived. Now I look back on the days of cup finals and internationals only on the telly and nights spent listening to the commentary on the radio. Or leaving Easter road and finding a guy with a radio held to his ear so you could hear the scores come through.Great memories, loved the banter standing in the queue waiting for the pink, once got a letter (remember them?) Published in it. Pompously saying why I didn't think signing players from Dundee utd was the answer. They beat us shortly after and I still get reminded to this day......

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[O'Rourke3]

Great topic!

For me, yes. In the pub after a game you'd discuss the game with mates and probably (mainly Monday morning) at work. I can only describe the
Advent of the forum and then platforms, with no better description than Homer Simpson designing a car for an American "average Joe".
" I want a horn here, here and here cos you can never find the horn when you're mad".

Draw or lose, someone has to be blamed. Most of us have played sports. You don't always get what you deserve but by god there's loads out there who can point to why or more importantly who was to blame. I guess the rant is some.form of therapy along the lines of another unashamed Simpsons quote. "Lisa, the blues aren't meant to make you feel better They're to make them feel worse"


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[Bostonhibby]

Great topic!

For me, yes. In the pub after a game you'd discuss the game with mates and probably (mainly Monday morning) at work. I can only describe the
Advent of the forum and then platforms, with no better description than Homer Simpson designing a car for an American "average Joe".
" I want a horn here, here and here cos you can never find the horn when you're mad".

Draw or lose, someone has to be blamed. Most of us have played sports. You don't always get what you deserve but by god there's loads out there who can point to why or more importantly who was to blame. I guess the rant is some.form of therapy along the lines of another unashamed Simpsons quote. "Lisa, the blues aren't meant to make you feel better They're to make them feel worse"


Sent from my SM-G990B using TapatalkYou can never find a horn when you're mad.[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Very funny,laughed out loud there.

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[Smartie]

I look back with fondness to a cold November Saturday night, standing outside a Kirkcaldy newsagents waiting for the Evening News van to arrive with the "Pink", no social media has ever replaced that weekly ritual for me, but then I'm aging and allowed a touch of nostalgia.

My grandad had a few newsagents up that way, back in the day - a couple in Leven, one in Kinglassie, one in Kennoway. I’m sure it was the Sporting Post they used to get delivered down from Dundee but they used to make an absolute packet selling the papers plus the fags, sweets etc that folk used to buy when they were in picking up that paper.

He’d have loved a few more hours in the week to have been as profitable as those few hours on a Saturday evening.

It’s quite sad to have seen a ritual that was enjoyed by so many just die off.

[Pretty Boy]

My grandad had a few newsagents up that way, back in the day - a couple in Leven, one in Kinglassie, one in Kennoway. I’m sure it was the Sporting Post they used to get delivered down from Dundee but they used to make an absolute packet selling the papers plus the fags, sweets etc that folk used to buy when they were in picking up that paper.

He’d have loved a few more hours in the week to have been as profitable as those few hours on a Saturday evening.

It’s quite sad to have seen a ritual that was enjoyed by so many just die off.

Not totally related but there is a page (@JAGresults) that tweets the classified football results every week with an AI recreation of James Alexander Gordon's voice. It's a nice, if slightly creepy, nostalgia trip. They have also started a retro vidiprinter style thing as well.

Gordon reading the reuslts on the radio and being sent out the car to pick up a Pink and a bag of chips was a ritual on a Saturday night when I was barely out of nappies.

[matty_f]

I think you could argue that forums such as this, which brought 24/7 discussion on Hibs were the first step in how we viewed/discussed football, and while it’s not quite as immediate as social media is now, it wasn’t far off, and many rumours are heard here first long before they made it to print (even the made up ones!).

I love this place, I have (as many of us have) built up over the years a significant emotional investment in .net, there is a and has been a lot of hard work to keep the forum as successful as it is.

Twitter and Facebook are great sources for discussion as well, if you can filter out some of the noise and there are some great accounts out there that give everything from statistical analysis to tactical analysis to the fun side of football.
"Hibs Twitter" can be brilliant and as with here, I have made some fantastic friendships with people through Twitter (largely on account of longbangers, tbf).

And I love that I can tune in to podcasts like Down the Slope or the Ramble to hear what would have been post-match pub discussion and I don't have to rely on the scraps of coverage that you get on the mainstream media.

It has its negatives, but overall i love that there's so much Hibs content our there to engage with wherever and whenever I want to. Things like the Observer just enrich that.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Great memories, loved the banter standing in the queue waiting for the pink, once got a letter (remember them?) Published in it. Pompously saying why I didn't think signing players from Dundee utd was the answer. They beat us shortly after and I still get reminded to this day......

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When I worked at Meadowbank House a few of us had a bit of a competition to see who could get the biggest load of nonsense printed on The Evening News letters page under someone else that was involveds name, there were some absolute beauties printed, it was always difficult to tell the serious letters from the windups. 🙂

[Bostonhibby]

When I worked at Meadowbank House a few of us had a bit of a competition to see who could get the biggest load of nonsense printed on The Evening News letters page under someone else that was involveds name, there were some absolutely beauties printed.That could have been me writing that [emoji23]

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[scm70nyd1973]

It used to take me days to get over a bad result for HIBS but sharing the pain has reduced the timescale. I’m 60 now and I can see the arguments for and against it all - the main negative for me is a barrage of criticism for a player.

A particular player might not be great at their job but they are at work and probably trying their best for our team (it’s fair game for opposing players and they will know that 🤭). Young guys who might read about how crap a player they supposedly are is never going to make them get better.

[Lago]

My grandad had a few newsagents up that way, back in the day - a couple in Leven, one in Kinglassie, one in Kennoway. I’m sure it was the Sporting Post they used to get delivered down from Dundee but they used to make an absolute packet selling the papers plus the fags, sweets etc that folk used to buy when they were in picking up that paper.

He’d have loved a few more hours in the week to have been as profitable as those few hours on a Saturday evening.

It’s quite sad to have seen a ritual that was enjoyed by so many just die off.
I use to wait at the shop in St. Claire street and it always had 2 deliveries, 1 for the Pink and 1 for the Sporting Post, when a van arrived it was a rush to see which paper had come in first, pleasure or disappointment followed if the Post was first :greengrin

[MartinfaePorty]

One of the biggest things for me is the work bores who'd never been to a game in their life, but thought they knew everything about football, now have a platform to spout their rubbish, rather than just annoy their work colleagues.

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