Fans need social responsibility!

The rapid growth of social media has exponentially seen thousands of football fans become sports journalists

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THE first part of the summer transfer window opened on Monday signalling the start of the silly season.

Rumours and speculation feed our unquenchable thirst for new signings or player sales in this social media world we live in.

However, those groups can be, and often are, a hive of misinformation fuelled by players’ agents, who get free advertising knowing the media will pick up on any tenuous link, as will supporters, who flood the pages with their “in-the-know” transfer stories.

Some end up happening, but the majority don’t. That leaves many fans disillusioned and sometimes angry with their clubs over deals that never happened - while the reality is they were never going to happen in the first place.

I wonder how many of the transfer stories we read in newspapers, hear on radio and see on TV, actually happen. I would bet only a small percentage do.

As supporters, it is hard not to be excited at any possible new signings, however, it is irresponsible when you post it on social media as fact.

The rapid growth of social media has exponentially seen thousands of football fans become sports journalists.

While head of sport at BRMB Radio I was inadvertently caught out and subjected to a lot of personal abuse when Charles N’Zogbia’s move to Blues collapsed overnight.

Blues boss Alex McLeish had called me just before the transfer window closed to tell me it was a done deal and that it was okay to run with the story.