Gary B

[forevervale]

Just been reading some comments on twitter (again) and as I am unsure I thought I'd canvas opinion. A force for the positive or negative?

[Sting]

Just been reading some comments on twitter (again) and as I am unsure I thought I'd canvas opinion. A force for the positive or negative?

 

Sting knows that there are people out there that are attempting to take out Gary.

[bar1]

depends what he's saying, who to and why! just a few minor points ;)

[robf]

Before we go any further can we please debate the question and NOT the person.

 

We don't allow personal abuse of anyone and I'd rather people didn't post it to start with rather than the admin team having to plough through dozens of messages to delete it. If this descends to personal abuse posts will be deleted, users banned and the thread closed.

 

However, I do think it's fair enough to debate whether it is right or wrong to air views/grievances on Twitter and whether that is a good or bad thing, so please do keep to that subject.

 

p.s. We do NOT pre-moderate. If there are any insulting messages posted please report them and we will act on those reports. The presence of personal insults does not mean we condone them and the presence of admin on a particular thread doesn't mean we are forensically examining every post made. Pls report any such messages and they will be dealt with.

[forevervale]

I don't follow him on twitter so I only see what others re tweet but it always appears fairly negative and often addressed direct to Smurf.

[forevervale]

Agreed Rob thanks

[forevervale]

Whilst I totally agree with your post Rob it has got me thinking. Please correct me if im wrong but I don't recall Admin having to post such a comment with six minutes of the OP, maybe this goes some way to answering my original question.

[chrissy_g]

Who's Gary B?

[robf]

Whilst I totally agree with your post Rob it has got me thinking. Please correct me if im wrong but I don't recall Admin having to post such a comment with six minutes of the OP, maybe this goes some way to answering my original question.

 

I didn't "have" to post the comment. ;)

 

My post was aiming to be informative. We're not always online to do such a thing but it is my experience that threads can very quickly get out of hand so if I am online and spot a topic that could be contentious, I do try and post something if I think it helps keep things in order.

 

OVF like many other forums post-moderates which means posts go live immediately and we rely on reports to delete offensive ones. The fact that an offensive post is live for a while doesn't mean we approve of its content (which I think is something people do forget). This is a very busy forum and the other thing people may not realise is we are not online 24 hours nor do we read every post. There are hundreds posted during busy days.

 

So, the onus is on people to report things to us (although if we do spot something we are proactive and will delete it).

[robf]

Back to the subject...

 

I personally think the whole issue is a matter of personal taste and whether Twitter is the right medium to use.

 

I certainly cannot see Gary as wanting to deliberately damage the club. After all, he spent a great deal of time saving the club (and I am grateful he did). But I guess some people could argue that he could be unintentionally damaging the club by (some would say) "barraging" the owner with questions.

 

However, as someone who uses Twitter, Facebook and blog posts to have my own say on the club, I would definitely defend a fan's right to have opinions and to ask questions.

 

Perhaps it's down to choice of media?

 

I blog my views because I think it does take a few sentences to get your view across. As Twitter is limited to 140 characters it perhaps can make things look more harsh than they are or makes it more difficult to get a difficult point across. If it's a multiple question it can look like someone is being "barraged" with questions and/or points.

 

But, to be fair, I guess the bottom line is, if the chairman is using Twitter to communicate with fans, then fans are going to ask him questions (both difficult and easy) via it.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Agreed...live by the sword, die by the sword

[cheeky]

We live in a country where freedom of speech is a right (within the law). Social media allows people to air their opinions on any subject they see fit (within the law). Whether people agree with what is posted is up to them, and they have the right to reply to the poster if they disagree.

 

I do think that "personalising" a thread on such a topic is wrong. I don't know GB personally, never spoke to him in person, occasionally interacted with him on social media,but I wouldn't want people to form opinions of me as a person for what I post, without meeting me (given I post a lot of drivel :D). If I agree or disagree with what anyone posts is irrelevant, the fact is we all have the right to, without question (within the boundaries of the law/rules of the site etc).

 

The main question to respond to though is; can the posts of a person on social media be damaging to the club? I don't think so personally.

[geosname]

Its difficult to asses the content of his twitter posts because I dont use twitter.

Whether twitter should be used in this example?.... well if the chairman opens the door he should expect people to enter... He [the chairman] shouldnt make himself available in such an open manner, SC meetings fine, official statements through the official website fine, press releases fine... open door policy only brings problems.

[Santa]

Just been reading some comments on twitter (again) and as I am unsure I thought I'd canvas opinion. A force for the positive or negative?

Benson can be a grumpy old box at times. Quite a lot of the time actually. He's also very dry and sarcastic. It's easy to create a distorted impression of someone if you don't know or haven't met them.

 

Gaz is alright, he does fall out with people but he's not the type of person who'll be everyone's cup of tea. I know him well and consider him to be a friend. Other people I also consider to be friends have fallen out with him but I'm grown up enough to know I don't have to take sides.

 

At the end of the day it's all very inconsequential whether he's a force for the positive or negative, in the great big scheme of things.

[geosname]

The main question to respond to though is; can the posts of a person on social media be damaging to the club? I don't think so personally.

 

Directly I agree... it could be damaging to the chairman eg his credibility etc so inadvertently cause problems to the club