When celebrities join Facebook or Twitter, the ultimate goal is to build fandom and build an effective two way stream of information. Unfortunately for Darron Gibson, Manchester United midfielder, this was not the case.
Gibson opened a Twitter account on Monday, but within two hours he abandoned his account because of malicious fans defaming his soccer abilities. Either suffering from poor self esteem or because “he couldn’t be bothered with it” as Rio Ferdinand, teammate of Gibson, claimed in a recent tweet, Gibson could not take criticism of Manchester United fanatics.
Other Manchester United soccer players joining the risky Twitter world include Wayne Rooney, Luis Nani, Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia, Jonny Evans, and Anders Lindegaard. Among these elite players, Wayne Rooney tamed the Twitter beast that destroyed Darron Gibson’s reputation. With 200,000 followers after opening his account on Saturday, Twitter fans welcomed his arrival in the virtual world.
Other notable professional athletes acted in similar ways when facing harsh criticism. Take for example Tiger Woods, who suffered from a sex scandal and discontinued all communications between himself and fans for months.
Sometimes egotistical, professional athletes facing the harsh criticism of media and fans need to take a reality check and receive the barrage negative tweets with one idea in mind: It gets better.
Time heals all wounds, but stunning performances on the green will ultimately change the attitudes of fans. So here’s a word of advice to you, Darron Gibson: score! Take a page out of Wayne Rooney’s book, score a goal, and Manchester United fans will love you as they love goal-scoring Wayne Rooney.
Tags: Barclay's Premier League, Darron Gibson, Manchester United, social networking, Twitter, Wayne Rooney
