not sold out, temporarily had wrong link up!

Totally agree Cameron. If you use the page description are on the left of the wall or the info area to set out the rules of what will be tolerated and what wont be then you are covering yourself. Many teams/companies still dont do this and is something that makes basic sense.

I've had to delete multiple comments when they are blatant spam or abusive. When it comes to sport the discussion can become very passionate and many stay anonymous despite it being their Facebook/YouTube profile (I think YouTube is worse sometimes for abuse and spam).

If it is a negative comment then I leave them, everyone is entitled to their view whether it is good or bad, as long as it put in the right way. It is educating the group and you hope that a certain amount of self regulation will take place once the group is established and know the rules.

Thanks for your adding thoughts.

Dan

There is a fine line between doing it with a defined strategy and purpose and doing it because everyone else is doing it. It may look the same at the start but the reality soon shines through.

Gordon makes a good point in that it should offer something different and not just a rehash of another channel...what is it purpose in the first place (a strategy should set this out).

David, to your point on how it should be measured and not just in likes, retweets and fans. It does depend on the clubs objectives - it may not be to sell tickets or shift shirts but an awareness of the brand outside of the UK. The social strategy should be built around the business stragety for it be measureable and successful.

Good luck to both Rangers and Celtic is all I can say. Time will tell if they gain more than just likes and if they put some serious time and money into it.

Thanks Sean, internship is a useful way of getting that valuable experience. Good luck with your training of the next generation. Dan

Hi Joe, thanks for your thoughts. The idea of the major players taking control of their content and creating another revenue stream is certainly something I think is just round the corner. Why not make your big transfer announcement on your app or page instead of a pR release. Look what Shaq O'Neill did with his retirement announcement, totally side stepping traditional media so they were reporting on what we already knew. Be interesting to see how the clubs, governing bodies, etc handle it. Dan

Hi Sean

Apologies for coming across harshly in the post, it was not the intention of the article to knock your own work. A little on what the background to it was... as I said above there have been many headlines by mainstream media about players being banned from twitter. Having worked and spoken with many clubs/organisations and seen the tweets after the bans I know that these don't exist.

The 'rant' from myself was against the doomsday headlines that appear every few weeks involving a different team or body within sport. I work with people on the use of social media and education of athletes, something that is in its infancy so I know the challenges being faced. For some players it is a personal decision to stop tweeting as they get fed up with the abuse from fans and/or pressure from within. For example when Darren Bent stopped to concentrate on Sunderlands fight at the end of last season before coming back.

As I said the aim was to highlight the headlines and not lay into your article at all. 99% of things I write are trying to look at positive influences and changes in this area rather than the easier task of mocking and knocking (I leave that one to the tabloids who have many years more experience in that field!) for example the recent Arsenal article.

Interesting reading of your last article on 'selling tweets' as I work for a business with many sports club/player sponsorships and this is a new area that I think we will see more of. Be interesting to talk to you more on this.

As I said, any inaccuracies I apologise for. The posts on this site are my opinion of the world of digital and sport and how I see it - I never pretend to be a fully fledged journalist but someone who has a deep interest in the field and its expansion within our society.

Dan

well done Dan!! I heard that Robbie gave you a crank call to start the banter going. Let us know how it goes and have a great time :-)

Indeed Will, it should be very basic but many still struggle with the concept on bringing the fans in and making them part of the experience. City appear to be putting themselves in the pioneer role within football, if not UK sport, be interesting to see how many follow in their steps.

Thanks for comments, has certainly stirred some emotions on the subject. I agree about the taking of an iPad to the game but for those who are in hospitality, an armchair fan or wants to look before heading to a game it is ideal.

The issue for programmes is print costs, time and wastage. The concentration here has also been on football. Other sports and events the iPad and iPhone would be even more relevant and help bring in an extra revenue source with no print run to worry about.

Be interesting to see how the sports clubs who have used it so far are finding it and who are the ones it is popular with. It is early days but one route that has some potential IMO.

Dan

Hi Will. Thanks for the great comments. Judging by the number of RT's of the article it is something that is generally interesting to those in the sports business.

What I would say on your endorsement comment is that I dont see it as an arena for blatant sales plugs. It has to be in the voice of the athlete and fit with who they are. It is more about building up an awareness of the brand, linking it closely with that particlar person.

If you can build it over a period of time with regular mentions of thanks or photo's, etc of photo shoot appearances or advert filming this will resonate better with the fan. I think a particularly strong message is when a player shows of their new cool kit/watch/item with a pic. Its a great way to biuld up that 'must have' element and brings in peer influence.

A good mention of social media weith athletes would be for me, the UFC. Their athletes have received several days of training and have 24/7 support as the main objective is to raise awareness of the sport and events. To this extent they have succeeded hugely.

We shall see how things transpire in the UK....