The Power of Social Media: Football enthusiast fools over 25,000 followers on Twitter
Football fans learnt an important lesson on Twitter recently: don't trust everything you read online. Why? The footie tweeters were fooled into believing that the account @SamuelRhodes_ belonged to Sam Rhodes, freelance journalist for the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph. They avidly followed commentaries and transfer rumours written by the 'journalist'. But all was not as it seemed; and after almost 18 months, the real identity of 'Sam Rhodes' was unmasked by professional journalists.
Freelance journalist Sam Rhodes was in fact 17-year-old student Sam Gardiner, looking for a better platform to voice his footie opinions. He plucked a random Avatar off the web and posed as the blonde-haired, blue-eyed journalist. The student spread transfer rumours he made up in his living room, targeting 'gullible' fans of troubled clubs. He even went as far to take pictures and comment that he was "reporting live".
twtrland.com
His account soon picked up momentum, and the number of his followers grew. He made some fluke predictions, which enabled him to get in contact with the players of some major teams.
In 2012, he reported that Chelsea were about to sack their manager, and posted the news one day before the club had confirmed it themselves. This was pure fluke, and gained him lots of credibility in the football world.
The streak of good luck soon ended, when Gardiner made a risky prediction. He spread a rumour about Mohamed Saleh, confirming a £9 million transfer of the player. The news went viral in Egypt, causing a stir on major news outlets. The story was picked up by a Telegraph journalist, who realised the account was phoney and reported it. And so Gardiner's 18-month reign in the soccer social media world was over.
Did he feel guilty? "A little bit", said Gardiner in his interview with the Financial Times, however, it was "the only way to get big". "Everyone has opinions", he continued, "not everyone has access to the transfer market". Gardiner said he never wanted to make money from the fake account, he just wanted a better platform for his opinions.
Many fans were frustrated at the student for creating the bogus account, although many begrudgingly noted some respect for his audacity in the whole affair.
If we learn anything from this whole charade, it's to be aware of impersonation on social media networks. It's evidently very easy to get fooled by the wrong people. Did Gardiner learn anything from his hoax? Certainly! He discovered his ambition to be a journalist.
Charlotte Callaghan
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The Power of Social Media: Football enthusiast fools over 25,000 followers on Twitter
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Tuesday, February 04, 2014
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Reviewed by Anonymous
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Tuesday, February 04, 2014
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