The dark side of easy social media access is now all too plain to see
Recognition of the significance of yesterday’s date in Scottish football terms inspired the thought that it’s a mercy there was no social media around when Duncan Ferguson headbutted Jock Mcstay in a game at Ibrox.
That was 27 years ago yesterday. The fall out was bad enough for all concerned. Had Twitter, Facebook etc been around, Ferguson would have been put on trial and found guilty or otherwise by the time he left Ibrox after the 4-0 win over Raith Rovers. Clips of the incident with hashtag bigduncsforthepokey would have gone viral. Mcstay, who was felled by the tall Rangers striker as they tussled for the ball, would have been victimised more than was already the case. People would have jumped on his Celtic leanings. It would have been unedifying in the extreme.
But social media is here now, for better or, as increasingly seems the case, worse. It’s not possible to simply unplug it. The value of social media to clubs is clear. The Spurs-dulux Twitter story that blew up this week is now suspected by some cynics to have been concocted to ensure maximum coverage. And it is thought Rangers have earned as much as £100,000 this year already from social media advertising.
It is therefore a big step for clubs to implement social media boycotts. Such is the deluge of material posted each second on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms, it’s possible you may not have noticed that the week-long social media boycott by Rangers players and management ended at around 7pm on Thursday.
This was timely as it was shortly before Slavia Prague were sent crashing from the Europa League by Arsenal. Nevertheless, Rangers players seemed to resist the urge to post clapping hands emojis to
celebrate this delightful fact. After all, it was one of the Czech Republic club’s players who started the ball rolling when he aimed a racial slur at Glen Kamara. But it’s now become more than about the odious Ondrej Kudela, the perpetrator. And, as the Rangers midfielder has himself stressed, it’s about more than Glen Kamara.
It’s become about social media and an army of faceless online abusers. Of course, Kudela was not sitting in a room hammering out racist abuse on keys when he committed his offence. He was a
34-year-old playing in a high-profile game being televised across Europe. It’s not the fault of social media companies that such ignorance exists.
But they are often the messengers, hence Rangers’ discussions with Instagram and Facebook earlier this week. A full boycott by Rangers remains an option. That would represent a big step given the revenue implications. It was reported earlier this week that the Ibrox club had registered nearly 10 million social media engagements in March across Instagram,
Facebook, Youtube, Tiktok and Twitter. This figure was more than every major American football and baseball franchise.
Clubs need social media just as traditional media needs it. It’s also a great tool for fans to interact with clubs, players and other fans. But the dark side of this easy access has become all too plain to see. If Rangers really can affect change in this area, then this season won’t simply have been about stopping ten-in-a-row.