I had the following published in the Burton Albion programme on Saturday for the game against Rotherham United. Thought i might as well publish it here as well...
It has been an eventful week for what is, as far as I can
see, the only internet forum for Burton Albion supporters but, at the end of
it, I rather hope that it is in a good position to thrive.
Internet forums in general divide opinion even more than
Jacques Maghoma. At one end of the scale, there are people who are completely
scornful about forums, who think they’re completely pointless and over-run with
illiterate numpties. At the other end of the scale are people who think they
are great for free speech and democracy.
As usual, the answer lies somewhere in between and forums,
like life, have their plus and minus points.
While I am writing about football forums in general and
Burton Albion’s in particular, I think it’s worth reminding people that there
are forums out there on almost every conceivable subject and the opportunity to
interact offered by the internet is a huge plus. I know people who have taken
great comfort after bereavements or after illnesses such as depression by
finding a forum full of people in the same boat, at a time when they were
feeling very alone. Therefore, I don’t agree at all with people who condemn
forums outright.
The problem with football forums is policing them adequately
while not appearing to deny people their right to a view. A difficulty is that
they attract some people – attention seekers – who do not wish to do anything
other than complain about everything. Yes, just like some people on the Pop
Side and even a few of those who travel to almost every away game apparently for
the sole purpose of berating the team.
Anyone who has been on a football forum will know that they
can be open to anyone to post or they can require members to register (without
giving up their anonymity publicly) in order to post. Check around football
club forums and you’ll see that the vast majority require membership.
The current Burton Albion fans’ forum is a relatively new
project, launched after Karl Savill, who ran the old one, “Clough the Magic
Dragon” decided he’d had enough of the hassle.
At the start, the new forum was open and free to anyone who
wanted to post. Unfortunately, this quickly became a problem. There are simply
too many mischievous people about and some who hold grudges. People have found
others posting in their name. Some have used the forum only to wind others up.
This week, the administrator of the new forum decided enough
was enough and he (or she!) has switched it to members only. The response has
been largely favourable and so it should be.
The next step will be to moderate it tightly and (having had
some experience of moderating a forum myself) I can warn the moderators that
they may be in for a rough ride if (when?) they start deleting posts or even
banning members who are repeatedly abusive. It has to be done though.
I’ve chosen to write about the forum because I do believe in
them. I contribute to the Brewers one, as it’s an outlet for my own views on
the club which I would not be airing in articles in the Derby Telegraph.
I think the key to contributing to a forum is that you should
not say anything online to another member that you would not be completely
comfortable saying to their face – however large they turned out to be when you
met them.
Some people take umbrage when they are disagreed with, to
which I say, if you can’t stand the heat…
Happily, there have been some healthy debates on the new
forum and I think it could become more popular in time. If you haven’t found it
before, give it a chance. You can read it without being a member and it’s at www.burtonbrewers.proboards.com/index.cgi
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