Players and social media

This article really struck a chord with me. Read it and see what you think.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jul/03/it-is-getting-harder-for-footballers-to-survive-the-social-media-abusers

I was on my facebook a couple of days ago, and there was a few seconds footage of Rocky training in the sunshine. I dont know why i looked at the comments, i knew what would be there, which i think says it all. Of the 8 comments 6 were negative and extremely brutal, along the lines of ‘dont know why hes still at hibs’ and ‘ill drive him to anywhere’, you know, hilarious stuff. And they seem to be self identifying as Hibs ‘fans’, if you want to call it that. From what i can see, the post was taken down shortly after, and other posts appeared featuring other players.

Leaving aside the Rocky case specifically, (ive already made thecase that i think his performances have been broadly good with the occasional high profile mistake in key moments, and hes a worthy squad player. Others may disagree, thats fine). But how have we found ourselves in this culture? Whats these peoples motivation ? I get why psychology tells us we respond more urgently to negative stimulus, so negativity gets magnified online by analytics and clicks, but what makes the ‘fans’ do it? Do they want the attention? Are they aware it damages the team? Or is it just bullies, ****, rising to the surface? It’s massively depressing.

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Originally Posted by hibsbollah

This article really struck a chord with me. Read it and see what you think.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jul/03/it-is-getting-harder-for-footballers-to-survive-the-social-media-abusers

I was on my facebook a couple of days ago, and there was a few seconds footage of Rocky training in the sunshine. I dont know why i looked at the comments, i knew what would be there, which i think says it all. Of the 8 comments 6 were negative and extremely brutal, along the lines of ‘dont know why hes still at hibs’ and ‘ill drive him to anywhere’, you know, hilarious stuff. And they seem to be self identifying as Hibs ‘fans’, if you want to call it that. From what i can see, the post was taken down shortly after, and other posts appeared featuring other players.

Leaving aside the Rocky case specifically, (ive already made thecase that i think his performances have been broadly good with the occasional high profile mistake in key moments, and hes a worthy squad player. Others may disagree, thats fine). But how have we found ourselves in this culture? Whats these peoples motivation ? I get why psychology tells us we respond more urgently to negative stimulus, so negativity gets magnified online by analytics and clicks, but what makes the ‘fans’ do it? Do they want the attention? Are they aware it damages the team? Or is it just bullies, ****, rising to the surface? It’s massively depressing.

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The good news is the comments on Twitter (x) were much more positive

https://x.com/HibernianFC/status/1807829268950397245?t=oY_PJsPpxK_6IuEcAriphg&s=19

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Originally Posted by hibsbollah

This article really struck a chord with me. Read it and see what you think.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...-media-abusers

I was on my facebook a couple of days ago, and there was a few seconds footage of Rocky training in the sunshine. I dont know why i looked at the comments, i knew what would be there, which i think says it all. Of the 8 comments 6 were negative and extremely brutal, along the lines of ‘dont know why hes still at hibs’ and ‘ill drive him to anywhere’, you know, hilarious stuff. And they seem to be self identifying as Hibs ‘fans’, if you want to call it that. From what i can see, the post was taken down shortly after, and other posts appeared featuring other players.

Leaving aside the Rocky case specifically, (ive already made thecase that i think his performances have been broadly good with the occasional high profile mistake in key moments, and hes a worthy squad player. Others may disagree, thats fine). But how have we found ourselves in this culture? Whats these peoples motivation ? I get why psychology tells us we respond more urgently to negative stimulus, so negativity gets magnified online by analytics and clicks, but what makes the ‘fans’ do it? Do they want the attention? Are they aware it damages the team? Or is it just bullies, ****, rising to the surface? It’s massively depressing.

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No idea what their motivation is but it's not just limited to twitter and Facebook, this place is almost as bad these days.

I don't get why anyone would go out their way to abuse Rocky. He works hard and has improved massively since we got him. Fine to have an opinion on needing better when we are discussing the merits of the squad but on a post that is essentially a welcome back post why would anyone say anything other than good luck. I have a mate who I see relentlessly challenging these negative posts and perhaps we all need to start doing the same when we spot them.

My wee six-year-old nicked my phone and replied 'Good luck Elie' - just a nice message, not linked with any rumoured departure - to the Hibs Twitter post at FT today. Was going to delete it as tied to my account it seemed like the work of a simpleton adult, but genuinely seemed so wholesome and pure compared to the usual abuse that it was worth keeping.

A season of positivity AND reasons to be positive would make a hell of a difference to the whole experience of being a Hibs fan.

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Originally Posted by wookie70

I don't get why anyone would go out their way to abuse Rocky. He works hard and has improved massively since we got him. Fine to have an opinion on needing better when we are discussing the merits of the squad but on a post that is essentially a welcome back post why would anyone say anything other than good luck. I have a mate who I see relentlessly challenging these negative posts and perhaps we all need to start doing the same when we spot them.

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I don’t understand fans who bitterly abuse any Hibs player as long as they are giving it all for the club. We have had plenty players over the years who clearly didn’t give a crap about the club. I don’t think anyone at the club seems to meet that criteria at the moment.

I’m all for sensible discussion about the ability of folk like Jair and Rocky ext but don’t get where the hatred certain fans find come from. This applies online and at games.

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Originally Posted by Paul1642

I don’t understand fans who bitterly abuse any Hibs player as long as they are giving it all for the club. We have had plenty players over the years who clearly didn’t give a crap about the club. I don’t think anyone at the club seems to meet that criteria at the moment.

I’m all for sensible discussion about the ability of folk like Jair and Rocky ext but don’t get where the hatred certain fans find come from. This applies online and at games.

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The posts say more about the poster than the player, his performances or the state of the club.

Football is pretty harsh and tough and I believe you need a thick skin to be involved in it. Performances are public, criticism can happen in real time and it’s not for the faint hearted. I’m not going to be a hypocrite - I get torn into conversations on here as much as the next person and my opinions aren’t always positive. Even a justified piece of constructive criticism may be hard to read if you care about your performances, as most players surely will.

But the abuse and stuff that gets doled out on Twitter, Facebook and the like? The pointless abuse in response to constructive posts? I just don’t get it and never will. To me they’re just a symptom of the modern era, where it’s easy to dole out abuse without consequence or repercussion from a place of safety. As I said - says more about the poster than the player.

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Originally Posted by Paul1642

I don’t understand fans who bitterly abuse any Hibs player as long as they are giving it all for the club. We have had plenty players over the years who clearly didn’t give a crap about the club. I don’t think anyone at the club seems to meet that criteria at the moment.

I’m all for sensible discussion about the ability of folk like Jair and Rocky ext but don’t get where the hatred certain fans find come from. This applies online and at games.

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I agree. For all I think the squad could be improved greatly most of the players appear to be working hard enough so there isn't much else they can do

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Originally Posted by Paul1642

I don’t understand fans who bitterly abuse any Hibs player as long as they are giving it all for the club. We have had plenty players over the years who clearly didn’t give a crap about the club. I don’t think anyone at the club seems to meet that criteria at the moment.

I’m all for sensible discussion about the ability of folk like Jair and Rocky ext but don’t get where the hatred certain fans find come from. This applies online and at games.

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It seems Rocky, Jair and Youan are singled out more than others for abuse.

Absolute nuts crazy !

Never ever joined in back in the day when Torto and Benny were getting abuse you could see they were both trying their level best for the club but both reacted to the abuse differently it was water off his back to Benny but Torto dissolved into a sweating shaking nervous wreck before your very eyes thing was Manager’s kept picking them

Rocky as others have said works hard has improved season on season and gives 100 % for the cause never bottling a tackle he and his colleagues do not deserve to be treated like this

Would not be surprised if Elie cannae wait to leave after all the online abuse he has received recently from supposed Hibs supporters

We will miss them when they are gone

Bots mimicking people or people mimicking bots.

Ether way the platforms are guilty of monetising and encouraging divisive comments.

Not helped by the examples set by folks in the highest office either. Everything has come a bit debased.

With the growth dumb phones perhaps the smarter folks are tuning out? So maybe there’s hope.

The patterns are so formulaic it’s so predicable. And it crosses over into “normal life”

Hopefully there will be a tipping point and the pendulum will swing back.

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Originally Posted by Broken Gnome

My wee six-year-old nicked my phone and replied 'Good luck Elie' - just a nice message, not linked with any rumoured departure - to the Hibs Twitter post at FT today. Was going to delete it as tied to my account it seemed like the work of a simpleton adult, but genuinely seemed so wholesome and pure compared to the usual abuse that it was worth keeping.

A season of positivity AND reasons to be positive would make a hell of a difference to the whole experience of being a Hibs fan.

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That’s lovely. Oh for a world full of the joyful innocence of being six :aok:
I’m hoping this is a season where positivity is all the rage.

Hibs should just not allow comment on any social media posts, sad that it has come to that but too many aholes on social media, hence why came off X(twitter).

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Originally Posted by J-C

Hibs should just not allow comment on any social media posts, sad that it has come to that but too many aholes on social media, hence why came off X(twitter).

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Agree don’t think there is any value in anyone seeing how many morons there are in the world

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Originally Posted by hibsbollah

This article really struck a chord with me. Read it and see what you think.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...-media-abusers

I was on my facebook a couple of days ago, and there was a few seconds footage of Rocky training in the sunshine. I dont know why i looked at the comments, i knew what would be there, which i think says it all. Of the 8 comments 6 were negative and extremely brutal, along the lines of ‘dont know why hes still at hibs’ and ‘ill drive him to anywhere’, you know, hilarious stuff. And they seem to be self identifying as Hibs ‘fans’, if you want to call it that. From what i can see, the post was taken down shortly after, and other posts appeared featuring other players.

Leaving aside the Rocky case specifically, (ive already made thecase that i think his performances have been broadly good with the occasional high profile mistake in key moments, and hes a worthy squad player. Others may disagree, thats fine). But how have we found ourselves in this culture? Whats these peoples motivation ? I get why psychology tells us we respond more urgently to negative stimulus, so negativity gets magnified online by analytics and clicks, but what makes the ‘fans’ do it? Do they want the attention? Are they aware it damages the team? Or is it just bullies, ****, rising to the surface? It’s massively depressing.

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Hugely depressing as you say. Pathetic really

Social media has given everyone a reach and some people believe the world wants to hear every thought that enters their head. The smartphone has made it worse because reaction time between a thought entering the head and then being broadcast to the world is seconds.

Abuse of players isn't a new thing. Joe Tortolano's interview a while back when he spoke about being a nervous wreck because he was booed when the team was read out and abused constantly when warming up suggests it goes back at least 35-40 years. The 'aye you did it on a Saturday but then switched off' doesn't wash either. Booing a player before the game suggests people had been stewing on it and building to it all week.

It brings us back to reach. In 1990 a guy ranting away would have been heard by a few people at a game or in the pub, the really insistent might have written to one of the sports letters pages but it was a pretty niche market. Fast forward to today and thousands of people see such inane 'banter'. People react to it, others interfere and before you know it there is a huge storm. The days of someone saying 'shut the **** up, you are doing my nut in' because one guy is droning on and on are gone.

I often think draining negativity is best ignored. I'm not talking about people who have a negative view of a situation but attempt to articulate why they feel that way. I mean the dump and run 'Rockys pish ha ha ha' type. That is something that thrives on the oxygen of 'publicity', it spread because of people reacting to it and that in turn means it becomes repeated behaviour. If no one reacted the perpetrators would soon get bored. I understand why that is unlikely to happen though.

I suppose it's just one of those things that has long been part of football and with increased reach comes increased prominence. It's a small minority but a determined one. There is a very obvious solution but it's so unlikely to happen that it can't be described as an easy one.

I'll tag on that I don't really agree with the quote at the start of the article linked and tbf I don't think the author of said article does either. Social media isn't inherently bad. It has given idiots a voice certainly but it has also given ordinary people with something worth listening to a change to have their words read or heard by a worldwide audience. That should never be the preserve of people with the right education or the right title. It has given people with niche interests a chance to connect and indulge their passions. Young people can hear people who talk like them discussing relevant topics, voices which are still all too often shut out of the mainstream media. The issue with social media isn't the products themselves but rather irresponsible management and irresponsible use.

Given that those of the age of professional footballers now, they are maybe better drilled than the rest of us as to how to manage social media given that they have effectively grown up with it.

Of course there are big problems with online trolling and cyber bullying with the younger generation, but a few abusive posts from “football fans” may be more water off a ducks back to them than they may be to those of us a bit older?

I used to get quite annoyed reading some utter drivel on the Hibs FB pages and groups, before it got to the point I’d just skim by them kind of immune to the bile. Ultimately it got to the point where I asked myself why I was wasting my time reading such nonsense, so it was a simple solution to leave them all.

Constructive criticism is perfectly acceptable, but personal abuse on social media platforms is real scraping the barrel behaviour.

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Originally Posted by hibsbollah

This article really struck a chord with me. Read it and see what you think.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jul/03/it-is-getting-harder-for-footballers-to-survive-the-social-media-abusers

I was on my facebook a couple of days ago, and there was a few seconds footage of Rocky training in the sunshine. I dont know why i looked at the comments, i knew what would be there, which i think says it all. Of the 8 comments 6 were negative and extremely brutal, along the lines of ‘dont know why hes still at hibs’ and ‘ill drive him to anywhere’, you know, hilarious stuff. And they seem to be self identifying as Hibs ‘fans’, if you want to call it that. From what i can see, the post was taken down shortly after, and other posts appeared featuring other players.

Leaving aside the Rocky case specifically, (ive already made thecase that i think his performances have been broadly good with the occasional high profile mistake in key moments, and hes a worthy squad player. Others may disagree, thats fine). But how have we found ourselves in this culture? Whats these peoples motivation ? I get why psychology tells us we respond more urgently to negative stimulus, so negativity gets magnified online by analytics and clicks, but what makes the ‘fans’ do it? Do they want the attention? Are they aware it damages the team? Or is it just bullies, ****, rising to the surface? It’s massively depressing.

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The sad reality is we have a lot of ********s in our support that thrive on spreading their poisonous negativity.

It's pretty sad and I can't really understand folk going out of their way to do this but having said that, I've heard much worse things shouted directly at Hibs players by our own fans well before social media was ever a thing.

Much like being in a football crowd, being a online grants a sense of anomominity and lack of consequence, which unfortunately leads to stupid behaviour.

I find Rocky a bit hmmm meh. The abuse our players receive is shocking though. The average Hibs fans is becoming less and less sensible.


The hate on Campbell, equally I’m baffled by.

Back on Rocky, do we now have better CBs yes, but he’s a more than capable squad player. Something I think should have summarised when we signed him. He’s a project with potential. Unfortunately he’s not of the standard we require in the first 11.

There plenty more to blame before Rocky

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Originally Posted by TheGog

I find Rocky a bit hmmm meh. The abuse our players receive is shocking though. The average Hibs fans is becoming less and less sensible.


The hate on Campbell, equally I’m baffled by.

Back on Rocky, do we now have better CBs yes, but he’s a more than capable squad player. Something I think should have summarised when we signed him. He’s a project with potential. Unfortunately he’s not of the standard we require in the first 11.

There plenty more to blame before Rocky

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The Rocky stuff baffles me.

With Youan - he’s someone who puts quite a lot of stuff out there on social media and who has a track record of occasionally biting - so whilst I’m not condoning it, I could understand why some people might target him.

When all is said and done, Rocky is a decent enough centre half. With experience he might lose a few rough edges and mature into a very good player or he might not. To the best of my knowledge he’s never sought out controversy so just what he’s done to deserve “treatment” beats me. Same goes for Josh Campbell, a Hibs fan who knocks his pan in and scored a decent number of goals, absolutely bizarre that they get the comments they do online.

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Originally Posted by J-C

Hibs should just not allow comment on any social media posts, sad that it has come to that but too many aholes on social media, hence why came off X(twitter).

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100%. I know social media is there for people to interact with the club/players but there isn’t any value in allowing comments. Put videos or photos up of training etc and that should be enough for those wanting their Hibs fix and doesn’t invite abuse. Surely for the players sake too it is worth it

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Originally Posted by 007

The sad reality is we have a lot of ********s in our support that thrive on spreading their poisonous negativity.

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As do all clubs, it doesn't excuse it, but that is a fact of life.

The keyboard warriors (invisible "hardmen") are everywhere sadly.

The answer is simple, stop allowing comments.

Not sure why the club haven't done this already, it's pretty obvious that our social media is poisonous.

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Originally Posted by superfurryhibby

The answer is simple, stop allowing comments.

Not sure why the club haven't done this already, it's pretty obvious that our social media is poisonous.

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If you don't allow comments, Meta's algorithm means that the post will get far, far less reach. Hibs social media output would be seen by far, far fewer people and our profile as a club would be dimished.

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Originally Posted by hibsbollah

This article really struck a chord with me. Read it and see what you think.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...-media-abusers

I was on my facebook a couple of days ago, and there was a few seconds footage of Rocky training in the sunshine. I dont know why i looked at the comments, i knew what would be there, which i think says it all. Of the 8 comments 6 were negative and extremely brutal, along the lines of ‘dont know why hes still at hibs’ and ‘ill drive him to anywhere’, you know, hilarious stuff. And they seem to be self identifying as Hibs ‘fans’, if you want to call it that. From what i can see, the post was taken down shortly after, and other posts appeared featuring other players.

Leaving aside the Rocky case specifically, (ive already made thecase that i think his performances have been broadly good with the occasional high profile mistake in key moments, and hes a worthy squad player. Others may disagree, thats fine). But how have we found ourselves in this culture? Whats these peoples motivation ? I get why psychology tells us we respond more urgently to negative stimulus, so negativity gets magnified online by analytics and clicks, but what makes the ‘fans’ do it? Do they want the attention? Are they aware it damages the team? Or is it just bullies, ****, rising to the surface? It’s massively depressing.

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The only thing I don't like about this article is the fact that the person defending the players calls the alleged abusers Idiots.

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Umberto Eco made a provocative statement about social media when receiving an honorary degree in Turin in 2015: it “gives legions of idiots

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Sorry, but unless I can see evidence of the name calling he is referring to, the only name calling I've seen is from Umberto Eco.

Very unprofessional of a person seeking sympathy to resort to arrogant name calling.

He does not seem to be against abuse as such, just does not like being abused.

"Do unto others".

Far better than to lead by example, rather than by flaming and escalating.

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Originally Posted by superfurryhibby

The answer is simple, stop allowing comments.

Not sure why the club haven't done this already, it's pretty obvious that our social media is poisonous.

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Yes very sad

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Originally Posted by pepe

It seems Rocky, Jair and Youan are singled out more than others for abuse.

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which obviously has nothing to do with the fact they are not Caucasian :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Up-the-slope

which obviously has nothing to do with the fact they are not Caucasian :rolleyes:

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Is this a bit like when people claim Rocky being called a bombscare is ‘racist’ despite the fact that Porteous and Marshall are probably correctly declared the biggest bombscares we’ve had in the last few years?

Joe Newell gets it absolutely stinking from some fans. He’s most definitely Caucasian.

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Originally Posted by Stubbsy90+2

Is this a bit like when people claim Rocky being called a bombscare is ‘racist’ despite the fact that Porteous and Marshall are probably correctly declared the biggest bombscares we’ve had in the last few years?

Joe Newell gets it absolutely stinking from some fans. He’s most definitely Caucasian.

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Obita won player of the season as well. What are those mad racist Hibs fans thinking.

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Originally Posted by JimBHibees

Agree don’t think there is any value in anyone seeing how many morons there are in the world

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If they are old enough I bet they voted Reform. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by silverhibee

If they are old enough I bet they voted Reform. :rolleyes:

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For sure

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Originally Posted by Edina Street

The only thing I don't like about this article is the fact that the person defending the players calls the alleged abusers Idiots.



Sorry, but unless I can see evidence of the name calling he is referring to, the only name calling I've seen is from Umberto Eco.

Very unprofessional of a person seeking sympathy to resort to arrogant name calling.

He does not seem to be against abuse as such, just does not like being abused.

"Do unto others".

Far better than to lead by example, rather than by flaming and escalating.

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It was his opinion and he is clearly correct

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Originally Posted by pepe

It seems Rocky, Jair and Youan are singled out more than others for abuse.

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Paul Hanlon got more online abuse than any player we’ve had. Just for balance

I'd like to see the club sort out all the keyboard hardmen - especially on Facebook. Majority of them will be on the club's database. Give them a call and take them to task. Would sort the problem out very quickly.

There's having an opinion and there's been that much of a **** that you cross the line with abuse.

Social media has allowed nobodies to get up closer to things they shouldn't have.

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Originally Posted by WestStandWillie

I'd like to see the club sort out all the keyboard hardmen - especially on Facebook. Majority of them will be on the club's database. Give them a call and take them to task. Would sort the problem out very quickly.

There's having an opinion and there's been that much of a **** that you cross the line with abuse.

Social media has allowed nobodies to get up closer to things they shouldn't have.

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"Take them to task" means what exactly?

Again, the Wollacott news on our Facebook page today just results in a torrent of criticism and occasional personal abuse of him, with a ‘hopefully Rocky next to follow…’ snide one too… very peculiar and probably evidence of prejudice, whats the connection? . Im also on the Marseille facebook page and 80+ posts on the Greenwood signing, which has brutally divided the support, are almost exclusively supportive with one post bringing up the obvious point. Its either a matter of moderating content or a cultural thing. But weirdly unbalanced whatever. Whats wrong with wishing him the best and moving on?

"but what makes the ‘fans’ do it? Do they want the attention?"They're losers.They think abusing people they don't know online gives their lives some meaning. Pathetic really.

Obviously everyone has their own options, but bloody hell,there is too much negativity around Easter road, get behind the team from the off, and you never know,the players might even play better when they are not getting abused

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Originally Posted by Brightside

Paul Hanlon got more online abuse than any player we’ve had. Just for balance

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I didn't think his balance was that bad either.

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Originally Posted by easty

"Take them to task" means what exactly?

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A good slap hopefully!

Young refs coming through the ranks, are strongly advised to close their social media accounts, nothing good comes off it.I would suggest, for their own good, young and current football players should be advised the same.

Unfortunately if you want a public account ( therefore everyone and their dog following you), you may get more followers and become famous ( which is the aim here isn't it ?) but with that comes the risk of people abusing you.
Ronaldo / Messi at the extreme scale well get hurled abuse at themselves 24/7 - (obviously they will never be able to read all of the millions of posts and have a team of people doing their socials) but in general they will just ignore it.

They wouldn't be the sport stars they were today if someone's opinion of them affected their performance / professionalism.

Someone mentioned Paul Hanlon being the most abused Hibs Player, he may be mentioned on the Club's social accounts when they post about him, but his Instagram profile and FB are private. He's not looking for followers and i bet he wasn't looking at every club post about him and reading all the insults he was getting, why would he ?

All of the young boys are obsessed by their follower count, first thing they do at the full time whistle is check their socials, it's an obsession for them, yes a generational thing.. . Maybe it would better to not be obsessed, maybe the club and their own agents / managers should do more to help them cope with this, maybe the best thing to do is have the attitude "you can't please all the people all the time".

In general the folk who can handle abuse in sport, business, politics, whatever - these people are the most likely to succeed.

So my suggestion is they ignore it, certainly stop obsessing over it and concentrate on what will make you a better footballer for the benefit of you, your mental health, your employer and of course the fans.

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Originally Posted by HIBS NUTS

Young refs coming through the ranks, are strongly advised to close their social media accounts, nothing good comes off it.I would suggest, for their own good, young and current football players should be advised the same.

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Presumably that advice passed by the guy who is now refereeing in the top flight that had anti-Hibs stuff all over his Facebook. Page has been deleted now but was up for a while after getting promoted.

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Originally Posted by overdrive

Presumably that advice passed by the guy who is now refereeing in the top flight that had anti-Hibs stuff all over his Facebook. Page has been deleted now but was up for a while after getting promoted.

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Who was it? Not heard this before.

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Originally Posted by overdrive

Presumably that advice passed by the guy who is now refereeing in the top flight that had anti-Hibs stuff all over his Facebook. Page has been deleted now but was up for a while after getting promoted.

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They can only be advised by their observers, and other senior referee figures.