Mightier than the sword?
Okay, maybe the headline's wrong - maybe I mean the Pen - but we are of course in the age of Social Media and the Web. When was the last time you hand wrote a letter to a friend?

An observation though from the last few weeks; noises from within and outside of the Barnsley Football Club seem to only espouse the negative effects of social media and its micro-bloggers. Perhaps the worst recent example was the temporary closure of Jacob Butterfield's account on Twitter - after an episode with the Oakwell Boo Boys.

But are supporters, when handling themselves correctly, wrong to voice their opinions?

Managers throughout the game always seem to slam the amateur writers and forum users for their activities. The old line of never having played the game is probably used too often.

Do you need to be a chef to see that your dinner is burnt?

If indeed those were the qualities for commentary and journalism, the good old British public would never have heard of the likes of Kenneth Wolstenholme's "They Think It's All Over", or ever have seen John Motson and his Sheepskin grace BBC TV for all these years.

Surely, well placed, meaningful and hopefully constructive enthusiasm has a place in modern communication, in all its forms, and that includes social media, blogs, fanzines and alike!

Writers Room

OnThePontyEnd.com actively encourages participation from all Barnsley FC fans in our brand new forum. Besides the regular banter on Barnsley FC, General Football and Rumour Mongering, you will find that we've created a Writer's Room, especially to provide tips to budding Football Writers and Bloggers alike.

This week we've loaded: 10 Tips For Providing Good Blog Posts

The forum's features will be already familiar in some respects, whilst we've tried to discourage as much of the off-topic chat as possible in it's design. It even includes an Arcade of 25 flash games, if you're aiming to spend a bit of time catching up with fellow Barnsley fans and members.

What's more, it renders beautifully on a smartphone - meaning you don't have to be at your PC or Laptop to dive in and get involved!

Join the forum



Our Goal

Perhaps we're being a bit selfish in the first place, we want as many Barnsley FC fans as possible to get the writing bug! We hope as a result, the quantity and quality of new content arrives on to the site as a result - from a host of new writers.

People always ask, what are we looking for?

We would love to see more content based on observational humour, shared stories, personal memories, top 10's, statistics, best ever ..., worst ever ..., cartoon strips, video content, commenting on material you see in the press, photo galleries, scouting reports .... you probably get the idea!

We think that by encouraging, supporting this community, sharing ideas and giving you access to others you can collaborate with on your articles is the best way forward.

Benefiting Barnsley FC

Like so many advancements, communication technology has expanded and is a tool of the masses. The capacity any individual has to be a publisher and producer are now unrivalled.

Hopefully the club recognises the role that new media and its users can also play in being positive advocates to its own objectives and embrace those supporters who attempt to increase their reach.

Personal recommendations and experiences are being transferred, every single second, amongst communities far and wide. But more importantly, like it's always been - the message is almost always stronger when it comes from a friend and not an official entity.

We're battling on all sides at Barnsley FC, economically and from a lack of accolades from the traditional press. Perhaps, when used in the right way, Social Media can dispel some myths, create some buzz and more importantly, bring more bodies back to Oakwell.

Join our forum. Join the debate. Contribute if you can!

Follow @OnThePontyEnd on Twitter or via Facebook
Enhanced by Zemanta
Share To:

Ian Wilkinson

Post A Comment:

0 comments so far,add yours