Comments on: Social Media and Community Sport – Channel 4 Thursday 1st May

By: Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:54:43 +0000

Chris – Congrats on the final appearance! And on getting tickets, they must be like gold dust. Yes there are big challenges and opportunities. I don’t know much about the situation with regard to sports, but my guess is that many sporting bodies are in a similar situation to a lot of organisations – curious about social media but not at the stage where they are confident in engaging with it. So I see this event as positive in that they are looking to listen to participants – an essential first step before joining any online conversation.

David – Forza Fiorentina!

Rosanne – Violence is obviously beyond the pale. I do think it’s pretty safe to attend most football matches in this country, partly because a lot of work has gone into improving the situation. One of the disturbing things about violence by so-called football gangs is the way it’s often orchestrated via the internet. However that’s dwarfed by the massive online communities of genuine fans, on messageboards, blogs etc – many of which have clear codes of conduct for users, to keep the atmosphere welcoming for everyone. That’s the spirit that the sponsors and governing bodies should be looking to tap into with their initiatives. As for your suggestion, I’m all for sportsmanship but we should beware of going to extremes.

By: Rosanne

Rosanne — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:50:15 +0000

I know I am the last person who should leave a comment on this topic but I have some strong feelings about football. While I know this is about sport and not just football, I assume football with be a large portion of the community sport. My strong feelings on football is the connection with violence with the game. Kind of takes the sport out of it for me. A major rival game was played out where I live two weeks ago and the visiting team were held in their seats for 30 mins after the game! It shouldn’t be like that and I know a lot of people enjoy football without problems. I would hope as the sponsors reach down to the non professionals that they sell the “sport”of the game as much as their product. With a degree in marketing and advertising, I believe they can have a profound influence, positively or negatively, so they need to be clear in their direction.
With that off my chest, I am delighted Mark, that have been invited and know you will add a wealth of knowledge on social media and social responsibility. Perhaps you could wear a Rangers shirt just to show your sportmanship. : )

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:41:21 +0000

I hope the event goes great for you, Mark. You’ll be cheering on the Gers tonight then?

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By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:29:20 +0000

Hi – love your blog. I am a Pompey fan so riding pretty high at the moment with 2 cup final tickets in my hand!

As I am also a parent of 3 footballing sons I think that the FA have some real challenges both to improve the future of football and to also reach out to the hundreds of people who are involved in youth football.

I wonder if the SOHO ivory tower guys are really tapping into social networking to really get in touch with grass roots football. What better way of getting people’s views? Maybe Trevor Brooking should start a blog…?

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