How will the racism row affect Twitter?

My latest feature for the Bristol City matchday programme called 'On the Social' where I look at a big Twitter/blog story of that week.

This week it's the racism row and in particular the impact of Sammy Ameobi going to the police - will this mean the end for the presumed anonymity behind cowardly tweets?

http://exiledrobin.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-will-twitter-change-following.html?spref=tw

 

Hopefully. Sammy reported it to the club and the cowards behind it are now in trouble with the police and have lost their season tickets as a result.

 

It's so easy to find out where people are tweeting/facebooking/not606-ing from these days. All you need is a bit of (illegal, unless you're the police) software and you can find out exactly where they are.

The good thing is despite the comments, the two lads who did have been arrested.

 

It should ideally make these idiots realise they can't get away with things like this.
Not race related, but I remember the comedian Dom Joly talking about how someone tweeted him from their work account () saying they hoped his kids died of cancer. He contacted the guy's manager and he got the sack.

 

I HATE HATE HATE Dom Joly, but thats seriously sickening. How can people do stuff like that?

 

Imagine the grudge that guy has against Dom Joly now!

"Anything on Tv tonight luv?"

"Just checking, err, Taggart, Quincy, A history of pottery, err Trigger Happ..."

"Don't you dare finish that last one!"

"Trigger Happ..."

"Shut up!"

"Why?"

"Long story."

 

Do you think he phoned his manager on a really big phone, shouting HELLO!! ?

 

"hello! Yeah, cancer, yeah, both of them, yeah, dead, yeah. Is he fired? Yeah. Bye."

 

If people just ignored the idiots that post those kind of sick comments they'd just call it a day and see how stupid they'd been.

 

Yep, but if you call them up on it and they were sacked or arrested they'd stop it an awful lot quicker...

 

True, and to more expense too.

 

Meh, tax moneys going on worse things. Stopping ****s is a good one for me.

 

Now they need to get down to Colwyn Bay and sort out their showerafter wor Offiong (ex-Newcastle, now Spartans) was racially abused.

It's good to see more people stepping forwards and making complaints rather than just tolerating it. So long as it doesn't go too far the other way (players making false allegations of racial abuse out of spite) then Kick Racism Out of Football will make great strides. It's one thing enforcing it in the glamour leagues but it's the lower leagues where it's more common (and less reported).

 

Alas you don't need to have an IQ above a certain score or pass a test to use the internet or social networking sites so these morons will always have an output for thier 'thoughts'. Thankfully it's incredibly simple to track them down and deal with them in the courts.