Footballers Tweet No More...

I know I'm making more of an effort to blog this year, but even I still can't believe Iv'e reached as low as tweeting about Football...oh well!

Companies ban their employees from using social networking sites, we all know it happens…You get into work one day and suddenly realise can’t get on Facebook, but you don’t want to ask anyone about it because you know you shouldn’t be using it in the first place, so quiet rumours go around the office until somebody confirms that Facebook has definitely been blocked.
   

So there’s nothing unusual about Manchester United blocking social networking site for their players either.  Except that they’ve completely blocked the players from using social media in their own time (which, let’s be honest makes up most of their time!).

There is a definite logic behind this, looking back over the last year or so there’s been a couple of incidents with players venting their frustration at managers through the powers of Twitter, first there was Darren Bent prior to his move to Sunderland who went on a complete tirade, really showing his feelings.  More recently, Liverpool player Ryan Babel let his frustration show when Benitez didn’t play him.

The issue I see is, where in a player’s contract does it say they are not allowed to use social media?

It is completely understandable that there should be a clause saying something along the lines of “you must not slag off the club or any of its employees”, and that’s fine, but Man U are saying that their players can’t use social media under any circumstances.

In my opinion this is a big mistake.  With the correct restrictions in place (see above) Twitter can be a great way for fans to relate to their football idols, improving the relationship between player and fan.  It’s not different to a company using Twitter.  It’s about the relationship, the conversation, and footballers are a brand in their own rights.  That’s why sponsors pump so much money into them.

If I was a sponsor, I would want the footballer to be talking about our brand through any means possible, not just in pre-arranged press conferences.

So ultimately, although Man U have good reason to restrict what players say, I really don’t think it’s right to ban them completely. 

Red Card.