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#TWO-WAY TWEET
The social media platform Twitter has
had a dramatic impact on the way
football organisations, players and
the media converse with supporters.
Lewis Wiltshire, Director, Media Partnerships,
Twitter UK explains how the Premier League
is at the heart of the movement.
When major events happen in the world,
they also happen on Twitter. And nowhere
in European sport was that truer than the
Premier League in season 2012/13.
It was a season where the Premier League
itself, and its clubs, shifted from the experimental
innovation of 2011/12 (such as Manchester City’s
#FollowTheCaptain and #Together initiatives),
to using Twitter as the primary platform for
reaching a global audience.
Breaking news on Twitter became the standard
– QPR announced the departure of Mark Hughes
and the hiring of Harry Redknapp there, Chelsea
did the same with Roberto Di Matteo’s exit and
the hirings of Rafael Benitez then Jose Mourinho,
and likewise Everton with Roberto Martinez.
None of which had the impact on Twitter that
Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement had. That news
was broken by a tweet from @ManUtd_PO
on 8th May which, within one hour, had been
retweeted or favourited 18,000 times. United’s
chosen hashtag (#ThankYouSirAlex) was used
more than 100,000 times and the story had
1.4m mentions, all within that first hour.
Players are at it too, of course. In many ways,
Twitter belongs to the players just as much as
the clubs, and most of the clubs have at least one
player with more followers than the club itself.
Rio Ferdinand
@rioferdy5
“5-5.....what a mad result! Let’s be honest the
boss was never going out with a boring 0-0!!”
38 SEASON REVIEW • 2012/13 THE SUPPORTERS