Oh, Inverted World! Besides being my favorite Shins Album, it’s how I’m feeling about Twitter. Allow me to explain.
I’m on twitter. I use it to connect with friends, colleagues, and American footballers who by and large are willing to have frequent interchanges with you on Twitter. One such person I have had conversations with is Jozy Altidore. Coincidentally, Jozy just recently signed with Hull on a season long loan. Where was the news first broken? Twitter!
Twitter you say? Not Sky? Not BBC? Yes, Twitter!
However fantastical it may seem, the BBC in its Breaking News section listed twitter as the source confirming Jozy’s move to Hull. Simply wild!
Jozy was the first person to let the world know he was joining Hull beating every single main steam media outlet.
First match is against chelsea subject to a work permit *wink* *wink* lol thanks for the support and love keep it coming.
Jozy broadcasted his next playing destination to his 12,000 followers on twitter. More shockingly, the media didn’t go about looking for confirmation, rather, they began to quote his twitter page. Reports from every media outlet reported the quote above instead of seeking independent confirmation.
What does this say about the changing landscape of football news? It means players are going to have a much more interesting role to play. They now deliver news about their careers and lives to the masses, and in the process, they can bypass the media all together.
Twitter has the potential to shine a light on the very secretive processes that take place in the football world. For instance, when a player is likely to move to a new club, but has multiple suitors, you generally do not know where they will sign until the deal is announced. How would you? With twitter though, a player has the ability to let the world know with a few seconds of typing and a click.
Jozy for instance, had loan suitors in Spain, Greece, France, and England. Villareal had announced that he would be moving somewhere on loan, but nobody had any indication of where he would be going. He decided it was ok to let everybody know he’s be going to England spurning advances from teams on the continent.
England early in the morning so im going to get some sleep ill tweet all day tomorrow on my bb and let you guys know whats going on!
This narrowed it down to Everton, Fulham, and Hull. Shortly thereafter, he gave everybody the news he would be joining Hull.
It’s an interesting time we live in. What will come of Twitter’s new involvement is up in the air. Surely though, Twitter looks like it will drastically change the landscape of how the media, fans, and footballers all interact.
You can follow Jozy Altidore on Twitter. You can also follow Soccerlens on Twitter for the latest updates and commentary on football.
Also See: US Football Twitter Directory
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