Do we want our footballers to abandon technology?

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Simple question as I seeing a real underlying annoyance at players having online accounts and posting etc lately. Mendy for doing it whole inured, Kev for trying to be Beckham, it’s a trend that seems to be growing. So do you prefer players not to post online?

My two cents is I think we’re becoming a right old miserable lot, but I’ll bow to majority on this one if I’m wrong. It’s not as public and targeted, but doesn’t our own nipping away at players when they pop up online have a slight similarity to the media putting everything sterling does under a negative microscope?

So what’s everyone think? Maybe I’m out of touch, but I just don’t see the big deal with players being humans and since I’m a plastic cunt whose moved away it gives me far more engagement than ever before.

[BlueinBosnia]

I think this is a complicated issue. I know in the early days of social media a lot of players kept their Facebook accounts extremely private, with some using fake names and similar. Then, as Facebook boomed (I can't really speak for other social media platforms), 'pages' started becoming available for people who wanted to follow/'befriend' players, which players themselves often had no control over, and likewise fake accounts started popping up. With these things (and social media as a whole), it's easy for falsehoods to be disseminated - precisely how the rumour about Sterling having however many kids came from, and how it spread (and was believed) so easily.

What we're seeing now is a kind of rectification of that. I and others suggested (and a later interview pretty much confirmed) that Mendy isn't solely responsible for his social media presence, and that it's carefully managed. Whether you like his (and other players') social media presence or not, it's pretty much a fact that a large part of it is a form of 'damage limitation' - if things weren't posted by a player themselves, then there's always a risk that a fake account would pop up, publish false information, and the 'snowball effect' of social media would spread it far and wide. Whatever was said to rectify it would have nowhere near the same reach.

I don't really pay attention to players' own posts, unless they're repeated on here. However, I'm glad they exist for the simple reason that people know there's a reliable 'from-the-horse's-mouth' outlet where they can easily double-check whether what a player has purportedly said/written/tweeted/shared is true or not.

[Fidel Castro]

I'm not too arsed either way. What does get on my tits though, is fans who use social media themselves, having a go at players using social media.

[Hutch's Shoulder]

It's probably a generational thing. Everyone under 25 probably thinks it's essential.

It would be interesting to hear the views of anyone in that age bracket (rather than twice that plus like me!).

[iwasthere2012]

It's probably a generational thing. Everyone under 25 probably thinks it's essential.

It would be interesting to hear the views of anyone in that age bracket (rather than twice that plus like me!).

Do we have anyone in that age bracket on here?

[Nigels Tackle]

It's probably a generational thing. Everyone under 25 probably thinks it's essential.

It would be interesting to hear the views of anyone in that age bracket (rather than twice that plus like me!).

Do we have anyone in that age bracket on here?

not anymore

lee was about 15 when he joined. or at least he posted like he was.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I think this is a complicated issue. I know in the early days of social media a lot of players kept their Facebook accounts extremely private, with some using fake names and similar. Then, as Facebook boomed (I can't really speak for other social media platforms), 'pages' started becoming available for people who wanted to follow/'befriend' players, which players themselves often had no control over, and likewise fake accounts started popping up. With these things (and social media as a whole), it's easy for falsehoods to be disseminated - precisely how the rumour about Sterling having however many kids came from, and how it spread (and was believed) so easily.

What we're seeing now is a kind of rectification of that. I and others suggested (and a later interview pretty much confirmed) that Mendy isn't solely responsible for his social media presence, and that it's carefully managed. Whether you like his (and other players') social media presence or not, it's pretty much a fact that a large part of it is a form of 'damage limitation' - if things weren't posted by a player themselves, then there's always a risk that a fake account would pop up, publish false information, and the 'snowball effect' of social media would spread it far and wide. Whatever was said to rectify it would have nowhere near the same reach.

I don't really pay attention to players' own posts, unless they're repeated on here. However, I'm glad they exist for the simple reason that people know there's a reliable 'from-the-horse's-mouth' outlet where they can easily double-check whether what a player has purportedly said/written/tweeted/shared is true or not.

Mendy is 100% responsible for his tweets...and hes been told to give it a rest by PeP himself and to focus on what hes being paid to do.
Noone at the club ina senior position pushes him to be on social media...the reverse Id say, given PePS comments.

[nottsblue]

If a player is doing the business on the field on a regular basis I couldn't care less what he does on social media

[carl_feedthegoat]

If a player is doing the business on the field on a regular basis I couldn't care less what he does on social media

Correct.

[Nick]

Depends what there doing. I think agueto has the balance, just.

I hate over social media anyway (I'm 29)

The younger / newer players annoy me sometimes because they are forgetting to be bumble and slot of it is showing off.

[Mase]

If any of our players become as bad as Lingard they're dead to me.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

It's probably a generational thing. Everyone under 25 probably thinks it's essential.

It would be interesting to hear the views of anyone in that age bracket (rather than twice that plus like me!).

Do we have anyone in that age bracket on here?

not anymore

lee was about 15 when he joined. or at least he posted like he was.

Were you even around then? If so I don’t recall you.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

If a player is doing the business on the field on a regular basis I couldn't care less what he does on social media

Probably fair but we don’t seem to hold that rule as a whole.

Actually I’d love to hear Carl bring his other end of the spectrum into the debate too if he reads this.

[dazby]

As long as it's not photos of coffee or average meals, or chick chinging a drink, I'm ok with it.

[Slim]

I enjoyed Mendy’s insta over the last year. If he’s performing then I just don’t care.

Now if he’s drunk driving, assaulting women, etc. then we don’t care if he’s the love child of Pele and Messi, I don’t want him playing football at all, let alone for City. Not that I’m thinking of any Portuguese superstar in particular, but I would seriously give up City and football if they signed him.