The Implications Of Social Media Over The Last Fortnight

The Implications Of Social Media Over The Last Fortnight

It might not exactly be a ground-breaking observation, but social media can really be a dark place.

Over the past year, we’ve noticed a substantial increase in online vitriol presented by the way of bizarre comments, derogatory posts, and replies which are quite frankly inciteful. Whether it’s a tweet on politics, sexuality, race, religion – every topic will often descend into the depths of depravity, with name-calling, arguing, and much worse besides – it’s a sorry state. But even in more “tight-knit” circles such as AFC Bournemouth, the abuse we have been observing and experiencing recently has been staggering.

In this article I wanted to talk about some issues which might help to shed some light on what has been happening recently, so I’ll address the sort of online comments we’ve been subject to, I’ll tell you how they have affected Back of the Net, plus I’ll provide some insight into the actions we have taken to combat them.

The Social Networks

Twitter (or X), of course, is the prime breeding ground for some of the worst of the comments, most of which emanate from users which usually have the same criteria. That is: 1) nameless accounts with faceless profiles, 2) pictures of footballers, or 3) obscure photos akin to something you’d see on Crimewatch CCTV pictures.

Sometimes these accounts will be used for banter, and occasionally they’ll be utilised to vent views which they’re afraid to attribute to their own face – both of which are fair enough. But as has been the case recently, often they are exploited specifically to be inflammatory and derogatory towards certain individuals online.

The irony is that, despite efforts to stay anonymous, in many cases – we know who the users are. We also know where they work, and in a few circumstances – we know where they live. You see, anonymity only works if you are actually good at it.

In a recent example, after our 3-1 loss at Fulham a couple of weeks ago, our very own Tom Jordan tweeted his frustration that, in his opinion, David Brooks would have been a much better option off the bench than Dango Ouatarra – expressing how unfortunate it was that the Welshman wanted to force a move up the road.

Indeed, later on the Fulham fan-cams, he extended on this, saying that whilst Dango had a good game, he just thought that Brooks offered more creativity and he could not believe that we allowed him to go.

This tweet caused some uproar amongst a number of individuals. One user even insinuated he was being “racist”.

Laughable.

It doesn’t stop there though. We have a plethora of historical saved posts like this from a number of users which cross the boundaries between banter/humour into something a lot more serious. We’ve all been targeted.

In many ways, I suppose it’s a compliment that in their heads we are being elevated to be on a pedestal that we ourselves don’t even think we are on (“rent free” is the term, right?). There are countless times I have come across tweets from these accounts which have seen them checking our timelines, observing if our accounts are still active, and referencing us at every given opportunity. Maybe it should be flattering? Either way, it’s definitely obtuse behaviour.

Why does it happen though?

Only they can answer that, but I imagine that if you’re a person who lives in a screen-first world gaming and fantasy, it is perhaps difficult to grasp that Twitter is actually an extension of real life, unlike most of the other virtual apps they find themselves downloading.

Maybe it’s a case that their constant confused blurring of fantasy and reality enables them to badge these comments as “banter” and laugh it off as a joke, but in a world where people are getting knocks on the door from the old bill for posting defamatory remarks, then it clearly is stuff that is crossing the line.

Chris Mepham left the Twitter platform as a result of the vitriol he faced in the past, and others, including Tom – have done same. I use it sparingly too, but even when I do log on, there is always a thread I see which ends up with me hovering my finger over the deactivate button. It happens with metronomic regularity.

The irony is, these comments rarely translate into real life confrontation – it seems be online only. Does that make it OK though? Not for me. And is it really that much of a “win” to write a relentless series of tweets that cause damage and make someone feel shit?

In all honestly, I feel a bit sorry for them and I find it pathetic, but it is perhaps indicative of the social media bravado that certain people feel they need to put on. It’s a peer-pressure filled environment, full of the constant desire for likes and clicks – and maybe just maybe, being purposefully inciteful by tapping out words on an iPhone 12 is some people’s only way to garner the reactions they so crave.

I just find it baffling that a group of people who all want the same thing (for AFC Bournemouth to win), can so frequently turn on each other in such aggressive ways, throwing out accusations and statements which are divisive and libellous.

We’re all different, and we can all have opposing opinions…

In the past, Back of the Net has been keen highlight and trumpet the wide and varied community of fans we have. We’ve tackled important topics such as race discrimination, sexism, the use of derogatory language, learning difficulties, as well as also being frank about our own “ailments” – if you can call them that. Indeed, Tom has publicly and earnestly spoken about mental health struggles on social media, raising awareness for bipolar, sharing his story with Back of the Net, the Bournemouth Echo and various Talking Cherries events.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Tom said: “You go to the football and you talk to people about everything when you don’t even really know the person. Football does feel like a release for me and it is more important for your mental health than you realise.”

A message from @TomJordan21 on the importance of talking and reaching out to others during this lockdown. People are ready to listen to you and support you if you need it. Follow @CherriesTalking for more. #afcb

View his full video (player grading) at: https://t.co/MbNtphciBM pic.twitter.com/GAaQbxKv2a

— Back Of The Net 🍒 (@afcbpodcast) November 12, 2020

Indeed, on more occasions than not, football really can have a positive effect on people, but on other occasions – not so much. Sadly, the last fortnight has seen the latter thrive over the former. As a result of this and other issues, Back of the Net has looked somewhat different.

The absence of Tom has most definitely left me challenging myself to become more of a football brain! I have probably known this for a while, but the last two weeks has made me realise that he is one of Back of the Net’s most important assets. Yes, he can be opinionated, and yes he can be abrasive with his views, but having watched every game home and away, he, more than most, can qualify his opinions with some kind of context – and he always does. It’s why he is well received on the channel – it’s raw, it’s knee-jerk, and it’s brilliant – even the great Ted MacDougall said so himself.

Sadly though, the cumulative effect of these kind of targeted posts has meant that the 15K+ people who subscribe to this football community have suffered as a result, as he hasn’t been featuring on the channel.

So, what has been done about it?

AFC Bournemouth know what has happened, and people within the club are aware of the accounts that have been causing the problems, so whilst it has been quite a fraught couple of weeks, it is something that they know about. What will happen, I don’t know – and maybe it doesn’t really matter to the “trolls” because they are faceless anyway, right? Well, refer back to the sixth paragraph of this piece… and maybe it will start to matter.

The sly remarks, little digs, parody accounts, and quote tweets that have been written since his deactivation – when viewed in isolation – might seem to have little wrong about them, but overall, they’ve had a cumulative effect – and they’ve all been noted.

Of course, it’s not just the Twitter remarks that have caused problems. We get them frequently on Youtube too. They are just unreal.  They never talk about the content itself, but instead there seems to be a goal of posting derogatory remarks about the people who feature on the channel. In the last week, we’ve been called racists, paedophiles, alcoholics, we’ve been accused of having disregard for autistic people – any kind of random put-down you can imagine. It’s ludicrous.

Combatting the Youtube comments

With Youtube, there is a limited amount we can really do – but from this point forward, those accounts will start to realise that any posts that they write will get no interactions and no replies – because, put simply, only they can see them. Not even we can, so they’ll remain in their own echo chamber. We’ve always removed comments and given people further chances to have their posts seen, but not now.

Not an ideal solution, but it’ll certainly give them the attention they deserve.

Of course, we understand that the consequences of having a Youtube channel and the pitfalls that occur from being thrust into the limelight in the local and national media. We’re an easy target. We fully get that. Maybe we need to be thick-skinned? Perhaps we shouldn’t overthink the criticism? Could it be that we need to concentrate on the 99% of comments which are positive and constructive? Probably. But sometimes, it really is hard – especially when it is so consistent and so targeted.

The bottom line is that this kind of stuff will go on for a long time, and me writing this article will do very little to change that, but if you’ve ever written a tweet and then deleted it – chances are, you know you’ve been stupid. Deleting a tweet won’t remove our screenshot. So maybe that’s when it is the time to challenge yourself to become better and go about your business with the aim of earning respect from real people, and not your online “mates” who’ll grass you up at the first opportunity (again, see paragraph six).

It is our hope that Back of the Net will return to full strength as soon as possible – but we just wanted to put this article out to answer the deluge of “what’s happened” comments that we’ve been getting on Twitter and Youtube. The love shown has indicated to us how valued we are by the wider Cherries community, and I just wanted to thank anyone that has been in touch to ask what’s going on.

Bournemouth fans, or at least 99% of you, are something very special.