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Read an interesting story in the Canberra Times today about the impact of supporter forums - like this one - on clubs and supporters.
Coming to grips with speculation and vitriol on the internet
By Tim Gavel
Back in the ‘good old days’ when you wanted to provide a no holds barred critique of a footy player’s performance, the only avenue was to yell from the stands, approach him after the game or write a letter. Most of the time, it was tame.
Talkback radio and letters to the editor then provided an outlet for fans to express their feelings on a more public stage.
The internet has seen the level of vitriol directed to AFL and NRL players rise to a dangerous new level.
People can get onto the fan sites and deliver vicious personal assessments, which at times can go beyond reasonable comment.
Speculation about player’s wages and personal lives are quoted as fact. Some sites call on players to retire immediately while another web page may question a player’s skill level and intelligence.
This week it was revealed that a number of AFL clubs had banned players and support staff from looking at specific sites. The fear is that players could lose confidence after reading some of the comments posted online.
One football manager has apparently warned his sport staff that if they leak information to web sites they would be sacked.
He said it was important to understand the fragility of some players' egos.
For many fans it appears online forums have become an extension of what happens on game day – it now continues in a different form through the week.
On some sites high profile players are described as dumb and miserable failures.
Its no wonder clubs don’t want their players, especially the younger recruits, reading fan sites.
There is the thought that fan blogging is a form of cyber bullying with supporters from rival teams spoiling for a fight.
This week I went onto several AFL and NRL fan sites. Some of it would have led to outlets being sued for defamation if it had been published in the mainstream media.
The Raiders have a couple of fan sites – The Greenhouse and the Front Row Forum. Most of the views seem to be quite moderate compared to some of the sites I have seen this week. The comments are relatively reasonable considering the side’s inconsistent season.
For example, there is a call for the club to re-sign Terry Campese in the wake of his performance against the Rabbitohs last Monday night. There was debate as to whether or not Marshall Chalk and Neville Costigan should be retained. There is also speculation linking the club with various players from rival clubs. Much of the information in terms of player signings has already been aired in mainstream media.
Mind you, if I was a player who had put in a sub-standard performance I am not sure that the fan sites would be the place to go if I was feeling emotionally fragile and uncertain about being retained in the side.
On the other hand, players sometimes live in a bubble where the only criticism they are likely to receive would be from the coach and, even then, it would sometimes be couched in terms to protect a player’s confidence.
Take for example, this expose from the Front Row forum, about a particular player (not a Raider though) – “he has no skill though mate. None. Hagan has said he was our best talker against the Panthers. But he was also our worst player.”
This isn’t the only posting concerning this player – there are pages and pages about the player’s ability or lack thereof.
The Raiders have expressed concern in the past about some of the information placed on sites. The club is particularly worried about speculation concerning player salaries and potential recruits becoming fact in further online discussions.
It’s understood the Raiders intend to meet with the owner of the Greenhouse site in the near future. The Raiders will offer to make available a member of the club’s management each week to answer questions from bloggers.
It would help the relationship if the club had more online interaction with supporters.
Without interaction, the fan sites run the risk of becoming an ‘us and them’ forum. Thankfully, though, it hasn’t reached that stage.
The Raiders say not all players are aware of the fan sites while others have weighed into an online debate and expressed concern about what they have read.
The impact of the web is not confined to the fan sites with somebody apparently creating a fake Facebook set for chief executive Don Furner.
But I don’t think a ban on players from going onto these sets is the way to go. I would have thought it’s the player’s personal choice.
In this day and age players need to build up resilience to feedback but clubs should factor cyber bulling into their player-education programs.
Source: The Canberra Times (no online link for this story)
Coming to grips with speculation and vitriol on the internet
By Tim Gavel
Back in the ‘good old days’ when you wanted to provide a no holds barred critique of a footy player’s performance, the only avenue was to yell from the stands, approach him after the game or write a letter. Most of the time, it was tame.
Talkback radio and letters to the editor then provided an outlet for fans to express their feelings on a more public stage.
The internet has seen the level of vitriol directed to AFL and NRL players rise to a dangerous new level.
People can get onto the fan sites and deliver vicious personal assessments, which at times can go beyond reasonable comment.
Speculation about player’s wages and personal lives are quoted as fact. Some sites call on players to retire immediately while another web page may question a player’s skill level and intelligence.
This week it was revealed that a number of AFL clubs had banned players and support staff from looking at specific sites. The fear is that players could lose confidence after reading some of the comments posted online.
One football manager has apparently warned his sport staff that if they leak information to web sites they would be sacked.
He said it was important to understand the fragility of some players' egos.
For many fans it appears online forums have become an extension of what happens on game day – it now continues in a different form through the week.
On some sites high profile players are described as dumb and miserable failures.
Its no wonder clubs don’t want their players, especially the younger recruits, reading fan sites.
There is the thought that fan blogging is a form of cyber bullying with supporters from rival teams spoiling for a fight.
This week I went onto several AFL and NRL fan sites. Some of it would have led to outlets being sued for defamation if it had been published in the mainstream media.
The Raiders have a couple of fan sites – The Greenhouse and the Front Row Forum. Most of the views seem to be quite moderate compared to some of the sites I have seen this week. The comments are relatively reasonable considering the side’s inconsistent season.
For example, there is a call for the club to re-sign Terry Campese in the wake of his performance against the Rabbitohs last Monday night. There was debate as to whether or not Marshall Chalk and Neville Costigan should be retained. There is also speculation linking the club with various players from rival clubs. Much of the information in terms of player signings has already been aired in mainstream media.
Mind you, if I was a player who had put in a sub-standard performance I am not sure that the fan sites would be the place to go if I was feeling emotionally fragile and uncertain about being retained in the side.
On the other hand, players sometimes live in a bubble where the only criticism they are likely to receive would be from the coach and, even then, it would sometimes be couched in terms to protect a player’s confidence.
Take for example, this expose from the Front Row forum, about a particular player (not a Raider though) – “he has no skill though mate. None. Hagan has said he was our best talker against the Panthers. But he was also our worst player.”
This isn’t the only posting concerning this player – there are pages and pages about the player’s ability or lack thereof.
The Raiders have expressed concern in the past about some of the information placed on sites. The club is particularly worried about speculation concerning player salaries and potential recruits becoming fact in further online discussions.
It’s understood the Raiders intend to meet with the owner of the Greenhouse site in the near future. The Raiders will offer to make available a member of the club’s management each week to answer questions from bloggers.
It would help the relationship if the club had more online interaction with supporters.
Without interaction, the fan sites run the risk of becoming an ‘us and them’ forum. Thankfully, though, it hasn’t reached that stage.
The Raiders say not all players are aware of the fan sites while others have weighed into an online debate and expressed concern about what they have read.
The impact of the web is not confined to the fan sites with somebody apparently creating a fake Facebook set for chief executive Don Furner.
But I don’t think a ban on players from going onto these sets is the way to go. I would have thought it’s the player’s personal choice.
In this day and age players need to build up resilience to feedback but clubs should factor cyber bulling into their player-education programs.
Source: The Canberra Times (no online link for this story)
