Cod Almighty | Diary

We're only human

22 August 2019

Miss Guest Diary writes: Lately it seems impossible to turn on the radio or TV without hearing mention of "social media" – by which they usually mean Twitter or Facebook – and not in a good way. If the commentators are to be believed social media is responsible for both Brexit and the return of measles to the UK, for causing anxiety and depression and turning us all into cyberbullies. Anyone would think that, before the advent of these platforms, no-one ever got stressed out or listened to tall tales down the pub or read dodgy rumours in less than reputable newspapers.

The mainstream media don't mention the good news stuff, like the child reunited with a lost teddy bear or the vulnerable adult reunited with family after appeals on Twitter. How else would I – and I'm sure may others like me – keep up with the doings of our young relatives if we couldn't sneak a look at their Facebook page now and then?

I love Twitter: it's the first thing I look at when I pick up my phone in the morning to find out what's happening in the world. My other half sometimes makes fun of me. He doesn't 'do' social media – doesn't even have a smartphone – but he doesn't mind profiting from knowing as soon as tickets for Town away games go on sale, or avoiding hold-ups on the Lincoln bypass through traffic alerts.

In general Twitter seems like a positive for Town. I feel pretty sure that Operation Promotion a few years ago would have been way less successful without the Twitter alerts and updates. But where it isn't so good is the means it provides for people to vent their frustrations after a game by abusing individual players. It's one thing to sit around in the pub with your mates and complain that so-and-so was rubbish or wasn't trying or isn't fit to wear the shirt. It's quite another to express this publicly on Twitter and tag the player into the message.

You could argue that the players are professionals and taking criticism from people who have paid to see them play is part of the job. But is it really? Certainly a player should expect criticism from the manager or the coach after a poor performance. But telling a player "your shit" (sic) on Twitter, no matter how well or badly they have played, just because the team didn't win is a pretty crappy thing to do on a human level.

The same goes for shouting abuse and booing when in the ground; it must affect the team's morale. All credit, then, to Town on Tuesday for coming back with two goals in the second half after being booed off at half time.

We were given some insight into what it's like for players when former Town winger Gary Cohen popped up yesterday during a Twitter thread. He confirmed that "When you have fans that are fully behind you it gives the whole team a lift." He also confirmed that when a player reads a negative tweet "even the strongest mentally will be affected by it".

So lay off the players, please. But I'm not giving up on Twitter. How else would I have been alerted to our former chairman's endorsement of the proposal for a 72ft white palm tree on Cleethorpes sea front?