Traditionally, football discussion has always been done face to face.
With your friends at the coffee shop, with your drinking buddies at the pub, even with complete strangers you meet and strike up a conversation with over a common interest.
But the new media has let us talk football with anyone, anywhere.
Take the comments made on this compilation video of striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's goals, on YouTube, for example.
Here are just a selection:
benharris4675: His best days were at United and is one of the best strikers United have EVER had. Legend forever.
MrSuperTai: das ist die überraschung der saison 09/10 auf der ganzen welt. sogar mein deutsch lehrer fand dies höchst erstaunlich. der spieler hat auf jeden fall qualitäten und wird den HSV bis an die spitze führen.
91Laurens91: Eindelijk weg bij Madrid. Hij verdient te spelen bij een topploeg. nu HSV !!
Don't understand these comments? Exactly my point. It's fascinating how people from all over the world congregate on one video to share their comments, allowing us, if we can hurdle the language barrier, to talk football with someone in Germany, for example.
The sheer array of people that you can now talk to about football, on videos, on forums, or on the other countless aspects of new media, is yet another way in which the new media has altered football's landscape irrevocably.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
£50 To Own A Football Club?
The title is a slight exaggeration, but for £50, or SGD$110, a year, anyone can become a owning member of Ebbsfleet United, a football club in England.
This is due to MyFootballClub. By paying that amount of money, cash is generated, and was used in 2008 to purchase a controlling share of Ebbsfleet United, effectively becoming the owner of that football club.
Each individual member can now vote on a variety of things, from which players get selected to play, to even the financial budgets set for the team.
This organisation stood out for me when it first hit the news a couple of years ago because it gave power, no matter how slight, to the individual.
Anyone from any part of the world can have a say in the operating of Ebbsfleet United.
New media was the key in this, allowing people to be connected with each other, and without the Internet it's hard to see how this could have taken place.
Yet another way in which new media has affected football.
This is due to MyFootballClub. By paying that amount of money, cash is generated, and was used in 2008 to purchase a controlling share of Ebbsfleet United, effectively becoming the owner of that football club.
Each individual member can now vote on a variety of things, from which players get selected to play, to even the financial budgets set for the team.
This organisation stood out for me when it first hit the news a couple of years ago because it gave power, no matter how slight, to the individual.
Anyone from any part of the world can have a say in the operating of Ebbsfleet United.
New media was the key in this, allowing people to be connected with each other, and without the Internet it's hard to see how this could have taken place.
Yet another way in which new media has affected football.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
New Media Too Soon?
The new media has changed the way football is broadcast, but is it too soon to use the Internet exclusively to show football matches?
In October last year, the World Cup 2010 qualifier match between England and Ukraine was only shown in the UK on the Internet, through a stream that viewers had to pay to see on Ukraine v England.com.
I think this was a potentially revolutionizing move, possibly changing the way football is viewed in the world, but it was marred by technical problems like slow, buffering streams and poor video quality.
I feel that this was an interesting step for new media football broadcasts, but technical issues will likely always be present and at the end of the day, many people want to watch matches on the comfort of their sofas or in bars and pubs, rather than just over a cramped monitor.
An interesting idea, but ultimately, perhaps a failed venture for football in new media.
In October last year, the World Cup 2010 qualifier match between England and Ukraine was only shown in the UK on the Internet, through a stream that viewers had to pay to see on Ukraine v England.com.
I think this was a potentially revolutionizing move, possibly changing the way football is viewed in the world, but it was marred by technical problems like slow, buffering streams and poor video quality.
I feel that this was an interesting step for new media football broadcasts, but technical issues will likely always be present and at the end of the day, many people want to watch matches on the comfort of their sofas or in bars and pubs, rather than just over a cramped monitor.
An interesting idea, but ultimately, perhaps a failed venture for football in new media.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Cutting Through The Clutter
Every good journalist tries to ask the hard-hitting questions, to get the quotes that would sell newspapers. But trying to get an interesting soundbite from a football player is like extracting water from a stone.
The clubs prevent their players from saying anything that could affect the image of the player or the club. Add this to the fact that most players aren't very interesting to start with.
But new media cuts through all the PR haze and taps straight into the footballer's brain. With Twitter, players can broadcast exactly what they're doing or thinking, without any filter, warts and all.
Take Sunderland striker Darren Bent's Twitter as an example. He posts regular updates, and in July, when a move to Sunderland was delayed due to the chairman of his former club, Daniel Levy, considering more offers, his frustration showed.
Seriously getting p***** off now
Why can’t anything be simple. It’s so frustrating hanging round doing jack s***.
Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around, Levy.
These were the updates he posted on his Twitter account. I think while this may not be the best example, new media is an avenue for these previously bland footballers to show their personality without any obfuscation by PR people in the club.
New media once again showcases its potential for giving anyone their own loud voice.
The clubs prevent their players from saying anything that could affect the image of the player or the club. Add this to the fact that most players aren't very interesting to start with.
But new media cuts through all the PR haze and taps straight into the footballer's brain. With Twitter, players can broadcast exactly what they're doing or thinking, without any filter, warts and all.
Take Sunderland striker Darren Bent's Twitter as an example. He posts regular updates, and in July, when a move to Sunderland was delayed due to the chairman of his former club, Daniel Levy, considering more offers, his frustration showed.
Seriously getting p***** off now
Why can’t anything be simple. It’s so frustrating hanging round doing jack s***.
Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around, Levy.
These were the updates he posted on his Twitter account. I think while this may not be the best example, new media is an avenue for these previously bland footballers to show their personality without any obfuscation by PR people in the club.
New media once again showcases its potential for giving anyone their own loud voice.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Arsenal news for the Arsenal fan
As an Arsenal fan, it can be hard to come by in-depth analysis and coverage about my favourite club in traditional media.
Newspapers and magazines naturally have to take a broad, all-encompassing approach to the coverage of football, putting in match reports and news articles that are written from a neutral viewpoint.
But with new media comes new opportunities to have a specialized voice. Writers can write about exactly what they want.
This allows websites like Arseblog and Gunnerblog to have a very specific focus. They are blogs dedicated solely to the coverage of news, matches and other matters Arsenal-related.
This means that Arsenal fans have a clear place to go to get their fix of Arsenal-related news and comment pieces.
Without the lack of bias that the editorial constraints of a newspaper or magazine bring, the bloggers are free to inject humour and their own voice into their pieces, and on occasion, be as hilariously tongue-in-cheek biased as possible.
Take this comparison between Soccernet and Arseblog as an example of how a blogger can put his own spin on a news story:
Soccernet
Arsenal have confirmed that midfielder Alexandre Song has signed a new long-term contract with the club.
Arseblog
The club officially confirmed that Alex Song has signed a new contract which will keep him at the club until 2014, apparently. 2014 seems like a ridiculously futuristic date to me.
I know it's only 5 years away but if I cast my mind back to when I was a lad, kicking a football around Bushy Park in the 80s, the whole idea of 2014 would have conjured up ideas of all kinds of awesome technology - and I don't mean iPhones or really thin laptops.
I mean flying cars and robot butlers who can make delicious meals with voice commands and houses that talk to you and transporters like Star Trek. You know, properly cool stuff, and not just regular cars which look a bit nicer and have a bit of a computerised display. Car manufacturers suck.
I feel that this illustrates clearly how new media offers an interestingly innovative way of letting people get exactly what information they want, in an intriguingly presented fashion.
Newspapers and magazines naturally have to take a broad, all-encompassing approach to the coverage of football, putting in match reports and news articles that are written from a neutral viewpoint.
But with new media comes new opportunities to have a specialized voice. Writers can write about exactly what they want.
This allows websites like Arseblog and Gunnerblog to have a very specific focus. They are blogs dedicated solely to the coverage of news, matches and other matters Arsenal-related.
This means that Arsenal fans have a clear place to go to get their fix of Arsenal-related news and comment pieces.
Without the lack of bias that the editorial constraints of a newspaper or magazine bring, the bloggers are free to inject humour and their own voice into their pieces, and on occasion, be as hilariously tongue-in-cheek biased as possible.
Take this comparison between Soccernet and Arseblog as an example of how a blogger can put his own spin on a news story:
Soccernet
Arsenal have confirmed that midfielder Alexandre Song has signed a new long-term contract with the club.
Arseblog
The club officially confirmed that Alex Song has signed a new contract which will keep him at the club until 2014, apparently. 2014 seems like a ridiculously futuristic date to me.
I know it's only 5 years away but if I cast my mind back to when I was a lad, kicking a football around Bushy Park in the 80s, the whole idea of 2014 would have conjured up ideas of all kinds of awesome technology - and I don't mean iPhones or really thin laptops.
I mean flying cars and robot butlers who can make delicious meals with voice commands and houses that talk to you and transporters like Star Trek. You know, properly cool stuff, and not just regular cars which look a bit nicer and have a bit of a computerised display. Car manufacturers suck.
I feel that this illustrates clearly how new media offers an interestingly innovative way of letting people get exactly what information they want, in an intriguingly presented fashion.
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Goalposts Have Moved
You move the goalposts, you change the rules of football, which is what new media is doing - changing the rules of football coverage.
Where in the past news was restricted to whatever newspaper editors wanted to fit in their column inches, and goal footage was a precious commodity sought after on TV, the Internet has allowed for as much news and footage as rabid fans can lap up.
One site which I feel exemplifies this is 101 Great Goals .
The website links to clips of goals scored from all around the world that are uploaded on various video hosting websites like YouTube.
Updated almost daily, it's a great resource for interesting incidents and goals from matches as big as England v Brazil, to obscure ones like Iraq v Azerbaijan.
This valuable repository of links allows any web user to view any important goal scored whenever he feels like it. This is a sharp contrast to how goals are shown in the traditional media, ie on television.
On channels like ESPN and Football Channel, the goals are shown on highlights programmes, or on news programmes like SportsCentre. This means that viewers can only see the goals at predetermined times, and only the goals which the channels see fit to showcase.
This shows that the new media offers an incredible amount of choice for the user - to view exactly what he wants, when he wants.
Celebrating this uniqueness of the new media is what we should be aiming for in SIWM.
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