If you are Liverpool fan and not on Twitter, you are missing out

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My love affair with Twitter started over two years ago, at first I couldn’t figure out what to make of this social medium, however the more I got into it the more I got hooked until finally I was addicted and wondered how I ever lived with out.

The addiction is a positive one, as a Liverpool supporter I have grown and learnt lot about my beloved club. What makes Twitter great are the people using it, it really shows you how enormous our club is and the presence we have all around the world. I have L.F.C. fans tweeting me from every corner of the globe and really has made me appreciate our club even more. Watching tweets coming from members of the news-media, Liverpool employees and players has also helped me understand more on what their life is like.

I had started by tweeting the important news stories and scorelines from the Liverpool games and then  within a couple of months I was tweeting every single LFC news story and during games I found myself giving minute by minute play action. What has happened now is that many Liverpool fans rely on my Twitter updates when they can’t watch the game. Twitter is available for all smart mobile phones so it works perfect for anyone who is on the go or stuck somewhere without radio or TV.

I feel humbled and privileged to have met so many wonderful Reds from all walks of life and was really honoured when I was nominated for the Shorty Awards last March for my Tweeting efforts. Unfortunately we didn’t win the Shorty however I will cherish the experience and honour as long as I live. Twitter is no rocket-science and I do giggle when companies come to me asking me for advice, tips and want me to help them with their social media activity. The trick is simple, Tweet about what you are passionate about and violate every single rule that the so called experts created. “Don’t Tweet too much or you will lose followers” is one of their first commandment. Guess what? As of this moment I have Tweeted over 38,000 times and my followers keep increasing. Their second commandment is “Don’t follow too many people”. Yep you guessed it, I follow everyone who follows me :-). By following those who follow me I give them the ability send me direct messages just in case they don’t want their messages exposed to everyone on the internet.

The traditional news-media still can’t make out what this whole social-media thing is all about and they are nervous as it does threaten their very existence. A good example of this came the morning of November 7th when Liverpool’s new owner John W Henry tweeted that a story on the Sunday Express was “Fiction”. How cool was that? How embarrassing is it to the editors of that paper. Henry didn’t have to go to a rival news organisation to dismiss the story but simply turned on his smart phone and told the world exactly what the truth was.

The club’s official Twitter is @LFCTV and they are great in answering questions fans might have. Most of the LFCTV crew is also on Twitter; Clair Rourke @clairerourke, Jimmy Rice @JimmyRiceWriter ,Chris Jennions @EComChris and Paul Salt @paulsaltysalt. Many other Liverpool employees are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon and they include George Sephton whose voice we hear on the Anfield P.A. system during every game tweets under @VoiceOfAnfield. From Melwood Chris Morgan one of the physios tweets under @morg_morg and Darren Burgess who is the Head of Fitness and Conditioning tweets under @darrenburgess25.

There are many football players on Twitter now however we only have three Liverpool players who actively tweet. Ryan Babel tweeting got him in trouble last season with a famous rant over his frustration. Since then he has been more positive, he tweets about football and his other passion, music. Ryan tweets under the handle @RyanBabel. Lucas who tweets with the handle @LucasLeiva87 is more reserved. Reserve keeper Brad Jones also started tweeting recently with the handle @Brad_Jones1.  Other players such as Nathan Eccleston and Dirk Kuyt were on Twitter for a while however decided it wasn’t for them. Former Liverpool players include Xabi Alonso @XabiAlonso (who still shows his passion for the Reds in his tweets), Alvaro Arbeloa @aarbeloa17, Emiliano Insua @EmilianoInsua, John Scales @John_Scales and Vegard Heggem @vedgy.

And of course the entire Dalglish clan (except Kenny) tweets, it is breathe of fresh air to see how down to Earth Kelly and Paul are. They both tweet regularly under the handles @KellyCates and @pauldalglish. Other famous Reds include James Walsh the lead singer of Star Sailor @jamesstarsailor, Mike Jefferies (@mikejefferiesL4) who wrote the Goal trilogy movies and filmed the “Dear Mr Hicks” You Tube video.  World’s Tennis No 1  Caroline Wozniacki @CaroWozniacki and former US Congressman Joe Scarborough @JoeNBC also tweet. New principal owner John W Henry tweets with the handle @John_W_Henry while his wife Linda tweets under @Linda_Pizzuti. Paul Tomkins who wrote several L.F.C. books tweets under the handle @paul_tomkins.

YNWA

-Antoine

Follow me on Twitter @empireofthekop

9 Comments

  1. I’m still a complete n00b when it comes to football, but thanks to Paul Tomkins’ tweets and your own, I’ve learned enough to almost feel like I know what I’m talking about nowadays! ;)

    And please know how much your as-it-happens reports are appreciated, too, not only for the times when I’m unable to watch the game, but also to see your response to unfolding events when I *am* watching the game!

    BTW, another notable Red on Twitter is the actor David Morrissey (@davemorrissey64).

  2. Wow! Great note. I’m from Monterrey,México and it’s amazing meet ppl and learn each and every day a little more about Liverpool FC. I’m happy to be on twitter closer to reds even in the distance. Nunca Caminaras Solo!

  3. I’ve never been a fan of twitter, I just have John_W_Henry’s twitter feed in Google reader. I guess I’ll sign up to it and give it a go again though.

  4. Antoine,

    is there anywhere where there’s a list of some of the more informative tweeters for us newbies?? i just got on a while ago and am slowly getting there, but it’d be useful to have a guiding hand from someone who’s been doing it as long as you have!!

    thanks mate, and keep the tweets coming (as i’m one of those who rely on them regularly foor matchday info)!

    OSI (@KickedIntoTouch)

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