Wife’s three-hour social media ban is worth writing about
A letter landed on my desk last week and it was a walk back in time.
“Dear Gary,” it began. It was from a Rangers supporter who had carefully put in writing just how much he hated our plastic pitch.
Polite and respectful but this gentleman was making his point, there was a personal touch which belonged to a bygone age.
It ended with a couple of sentences about how much he respected my Livingston team, the way we are organised and we are prepared to fight for one another.
This was a yours sincerely which was clearly meant.
Rational, no bad language and beautifully written, he’d taken the time to put his thoughts down on paper and paid the postage.
How refreshing that there are some able to communicate with a personal touch and not a computer in sight.
The world is changing and sadly it’s not for the better when every Saturday now is a hateful experience with social media continuing to be the bubble which shows no signs of being ready to burst.
Technology has a lot to answer for and in this area my belief is that it does more damage than good.
Now, it’s not often the wife comes out with a statement which translates into a eureka moment.
But Lisa could be on to something with a rant this week about social media.
Such is the toxic nature of Twitter these days, she wants a three-hour ban implemented every day across every platform. A bit of breathing space for people to give their brains a rest.
A break from all the hate, the negativity and the nonsense . The bonkers brigade needs a period of time out for a few hours and hopefully it’s an idea which will catch on.
It’s a fact that win, lose or draw, the post-match ritual of most players is all about the mobile phones.
I see them every Saturday, sitting up the back of the team bus with heads buried in the glow of their handsets.
No matter what’s been said in the dressing room just moments earlier, it’s now routine for footballers to scan the various social media apps and message boards to see what the court of public opinion is saying about them.
What’s a gaffer to do? I’ve never been someone who would ban our boys using Twitter or any other online indulgence but I don’t believe it’s healthy and it should be discouraged.
When they are in game mode I insist on all phones being switched off. But other than that, it’s something which no boss is really able to police.
A huge part of the sport is psychological and players have never been more open to criticism but there’s an addiction for many to scour the internet to see what comments are being made about them.
Modern sport is now so much about the interaction between the sportsperson and the fan. One wrong word, one bit of abuse or a tweet which could get into an athlete’s head is a real danger for anyone with a fragile psyche to allow it to affect their confidence or form.
During my career, the only person I wanted to please was the manager.
If he was happy then I was doing my job.
That said, I used to get the newspapers delivered to my house and the first thing I would look for is the player ratings for the game I’d played in that weekend.
It’s a compulsive thing, some may deny it but al l players are straight to the page which has them marked out of ten.
Someone once gave me a five despite me having one of my better performances and having scored in the game. It’s a bizarre feeling, this is a stranger’s assessment yet it’s something you carry about in your head.
I remember the boys in the Kilmarnock dressing room having a running joke about the marking system, we’d sit there and wonder if it had been names pulled from a hat when certain tabloids listed their team of the day.
Some would be bothered more than others but I long for the old days when the criticism only came through the post.
Did I reply to the Rangers fan’s letter?
I did and I’m thinking about getting it framed and mounted on the office wall.
I long for old days when criticism only came in the post rather through your mobile phone