Social media is rubbish.

[safc_grindon]

Then you'd be incorrect.

Haven't read through a lot of this thread but I agree SAFCSource is probably the best lad if you're into all the transfer rumour stuff. In fact, the Roker Report lads do a fantastic job. We do a roundup every morning on the site which covers stuff like that but to be honest it doesn't really excite us, we go to work when the player is photographed holding up a shirt.

It's not our job to trawl random foreign websites looking for players who MIGHT sign for Sunderland. We just produce content that we think fans might find interesting or entertaining, usually in a light-hearted manner, we have done for 25 years. We're not really the type of lads who'd sit behind computer screens and work our way through OPTA stats or anything like that, we just enjoy football, enjoy writing about it, and love being a platform for other people like us to write how they feel, more than often we'll give it a platform.... unless it's shite.

Wow - I find that quite surprising. Because there's a clear gulf between what's in your magazine, what's online, and what's on your social media. I religiously log on to the ALS site every day just to read the news. While it definitely treads a path of lighthearted, it's still factual. "Sunderland were handed their first defeat of pre-season", "Poyet wants a box to box midfielder" - perfect. That's why I've logged on, to find that stuff out.

Your social isn't reliable or credible - it's a lot more 'we're just here to have a laugh', hence 'we've signed Shola Ameobi' type stuff, which is perfectly fine, of course - it's yours to do with how you want. However, personally I feel it's a missed opportunity. That's why - and I'm saying all this within the context of this thread, as opposed to just winging for the sake of it - I prefer to follow someone like Andy. It's not for the OPTA stats - it's as a reliable news / information point on Sunderland. I'm a Sunderland fan, I want to read about my team. I can get lighthearted entertainment from my own mates - 'we've signed X or Y' texts as a wind up and what have you - so I don't see the point of your social media. And as a business, surely you want people to follow you and use your brand? To trust it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say you need to be deadly serious, etc - I'm just trying to say, in my opinion, that you should at least remain credible and reliable - cheap laughs are easy to find, being a trustworthy source for Sunderland news isn't.

I'd echo that tbh. I think the last thing we Sunderland fans have to complain about is independent coverage. Between ALS, Salut Sunderland, WMS, We are Wearside and RR, there is pretty much every angle/niche covered and plenty of quality produced.

Nothing near a shortage no matter what your tastes. That's gotta be a good thing for everyone.

I'm not complaining about independent coverage - I'm doing the exact opposite, I'm trying to champion that. I want good independent coverage.

 

[SAFC 2012]

They tell you that they dont claim to be itk, but as soon as you dare to question them/ their info you're told you're wrong and they come across al ITK

 

[wanny]

Wow - I find that quite surprising. Because there's a clear gulf between what's in your magazine, what's online, and what's on your social media. I religiously log on to the ALS site every day just to read the news. While it definitely treads a path of lighthearted, it's still factual. "Sunderland were handed their first defeat of pre-season", "Poyet wants a box to box midfielder" - perfect. That's why I've logged on, to find that stuff out.

Your social isn't reliable or credible - it's a lot more 'we're just here to have a laugh', hence 'we've signed Shola Ameobi' type stuff, which is perfectly fine, of course - it's yours to do with how you want. However, personally I feel it's a missed opportunity. That's why - and I'm saying all this within the context of this thread, as opposed to just winging for the sake of it - I prefer to follow someone like Andy. It's not for the OPTA stats - it's as a reliable news / information point on Sunderland. I'm a Sunderland fan, I want to read about my team. I can get lighthearted entertainment from my own mates - 'we've signed X or Y' texts as a wind up and what have you - so I don't see the point of your social media. And as a business, surely you want people to follow you and use your brand? To trust it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say you need to be deadly serious, etc - I'm just trying to say, in my opinion, that you should at least remain credible and reliable - cheap laughs are easy to find, being a trustworthy source for Sunderland news isn't.



I'm not complaining about independent coverage - I'm doing the exact opposite, I'm trying to champion that. I want good independent coverage.

The ALS site is fine. Their twitter and Facebook posts are absolutely appalling - it's like they've got a 12 year old to do it.
They've gone way down in my estimation this pre season.

 

[a.l.s]

Wow - I find that quite surprising. Because there's a clear gulf between what's in your magazine, what's online, and what's on your social media. I religiously log on to the ALS site every day just to read the news. While it definitely treads a path of lighthearted, it's still factual. "Sunderland were handed their first defeat of pre-season", "Poyet wants a box to box midfielder" - perfect. That's why I've logged on, to find that stuff out.

Your social isn't reliable or credible - it's a lot more 'we're just here to have a laugh', hence 'we've signed Shola Ameobi' type stuff, which is perfectly fine, of course - it's yours to do with how you want. However, personally I feel it's a missed opportunity. That's why - and I'm saying all this within the context of this thread, as opposed to just winging for the sake of it - I prefer to follow someone like Andy. It's not for the OPTA stats - it's as a reliable news / information point on Sunderland. I'm a Sunderland fan, I want to read about my team. I can get lighthearted entertainment from my own mates - 'we've signed X or Y' texts as a wind up and what have you - so I don't see the point of your social media. And as a business, surely you want people to follow you and use your brand? To trust it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say you need to be deadly serious, etc - I'm just trying to say, in my opinion, that you should at least remain credible and reliable - cheap laughs are easy to find, being a trustworthy source for Sunderland news isn't.


I'm not complaining about independent coverage - I'm doing the exact opposite, I'm trying to champion that. I want good independent coverage.

To be honest, it's great that we divide opinions and I'm glad to hear you log on to the website every day, thanks for that. Most of our social media stuff is a bit daft I admit, but I don't really think we take it seriously enough to be too serious on it. As far as building a brand goes, if you support Sunderland you probably know about us already; we're opposite the stadium with a bunch of graffiti on the walls, can't really miss us, we've been around for a while as well. If people think our social media stuff is daft, they're probably right. I think it's nice that we can have a laugh when nothing else is happening. We'll always bring the facts, but we like to take the piss a bit along the way, it keeps us sane.

As for being a trusted source for Sunderland news, again, we don't really know any more than anyone who reads the newspapers/trawls the internet, we just condense it down every day to save you a bit of time and bother. We're certainly not 'in the know', if club insiders were going to tell anyone anything about transfers then it probably wouldn't be us (as we'd tell everyone!) Everything in the daily roundup is factual. As for the social networks though, if you see a picture of George McCartney with his head quite obviously photoshopped on Jordi Gomez' body with us claiming we've signed him (for the third time), we expect people to realise it's a load of shite and roll with the punches a bit. If that's not for you then that's fine, we still fill our social networks with loads of factual and engaging content, but I admit our other two mediums (print and website) are much more concise.

 

[Connery73]

I tend to find social media is canny, unless you are friends with / follow cunts

 

[Oli Wagkz]

It's exactly the same as this place man.

 

[safc_grindon]

To be honest, it's great that we divide opinions and I'm glad to hear you log on to the website every day, thanks for that. Most of our social media stuff is a bit daft I admit, but I don't really think we take it seriously enough to be too serious on it. As far as building a brand goes, if you support Sunderland you probably know about us already; we're opposite the stadium with a bunch of graffiti on the walls, can't really miss us, we've been around for a while as well. If people think our social media stuff is daft, they're probably right. I think it's nice that we can have a laugh when nothing else is happening. We'll always bring the facts, but we like to take the piss a bit along the way, it keeps us sane.

As for being a trusted source for Sunderland news, again, we don't really know any more than anyone who reads the newspapers/trawls the internet, we just condense it down every day to save you a bit of time and bother. We're certainly not 'in the know', if club insiders were going to tell anyone anything about transfers then it probably wouldn't be us (as we'd tell everyone!) Everything in the daily roundup is factual. As for the social networks though, if you see a picture of George McCartney with his head quite obviously photoshopped on Jordi Gomez' body with us claiming we've signed him (for the third time), we expect people to realise it's a load of shite and roll with the punches a bit. If that's not for you then that's fine, we still fill our social networks with loads of factual and engaging content, but I admit our other two mediums (print and website) are much more concise.

Interesting that you chose to reply on here in fairly grown up manner, but then get back to your twitter to act like a kid again...

"all these jokes are a missed opportunity. We should be enlarging our brand. It's all about the brand Chris. Jo brand."

"we're appalling. The social media is ran by 12 year olds"

I think this tweet / FB post sums up my original point best:

"Hard to imagine anything more bent than loom bands. When I was little we used to spit at each other for entertainment. Kids these days." That's from ALS, the Independent Sunderland Football Club Fanzine. f***ing hell.

At least when you were putting out made up stories about Shola Ameobi and ridiculing little kids at the match it had a loose connection to football. Loom bands?!

"Oh, we're being funny, we're having a right laugh, man." Fine. Your audience, grow it or lose it, that's up to you.

I'll leave you to your 'factual and engaging content', you clearly don't give a fuck about your audience, and I guess that's up to you. But at least have the balls to debate it, instead of going back to your little social media clique to to ridicule people, as that's a bit spineless.

 

[a.l.s]

 

[Left Breathless]

That's you lot telt

 

[safc_grindon]

That's you lot telt

Is it?

 

[Left Breathless]

Is it?

Well it looks like you've had a canny old moan at them. I think ALS are canny. I buy the Fanzine now and again and enjoy it but I don't get it to find out about current news.

Have to admit I think although you're entitled to your opinion the Facebook stuff you're mentioning is a bit daft. They don't really see themselves as a breaking transfer news type of medium and have already said they find out as much as any fan. The posts I've seen on Facebook they are tongue in cheek and that's the way I've taken them. You want them to be something they are not.

 

[safc_grindon]

Well it looks like you've had a canny old moan at them. I think ALS are canny. I buy the Fanzine now and again and enjoy it but I don't get it to find out about current news.

Have to admit I think although you're entitled to your opinion the Facebook stuff you're mentioning is a bit daft. They don't really see themselves as a breaking transfer news type of medium and have already said they find out as much as any fan. The posts I've seen on Facebook they are tongue in cheek and that's the way I've taken them. You want them to be something they are not.

You know what, you're probably right - I'm expecting what's essentially a bunch of kids and wannabe-journos to act like professionals. That's my fault, not theirs. Why should they?

I wasn't asking for the greatest, amazing, fantastic Sunderland news service ever though - I was merely saying that as an independent voice for Sunderland fans, maybe it would be better if that's what they concentrated on, being that voice, instead of 'loom bands' and made up transfer stories. Clearly they're not arsed, so why should anyone else be?

 

[Left Breathless]

You know what, you're probably right - I'm expecting what's essentially a bunch of kids and wannabe-journos to act like professionals. That's my fault, not theirs. Why should they?

I wasn't asking for the greatest, amazing, fantastic Sunderland news service ever though - I was merely saying that as an independent voice for Sunderland fans, maybe it would be better if that's what they concentrated on, being that voice, instead of 'loom bands' and made up transfer stories. Clearly they're not arsed, so why should anyone else be?

I don't think they want to be the voice they're just a bunch of fans like yourself and I who run a fanzine. The club are the ones that are the official news really. If you choose to use other things then I suppose you're going to have to accept it's probably not going to be accurate or will be frustrating. Have you seen the state of some of the mag ones they post every day and just make themselves look f***ing stupid.

 

[safc_grindon]

I don't think they want to be the voice they're just a bunch of fans like yourself and I who run a fanzine. The club are the ones that are the official news really. If you choose to use other things then I suppose you're going to have to accept it's probably not going to be accurate or will be frustrating. Have you seen the state of some of the mag ones they post every day and just make themselves look f***ing stupid.

What's the point in running a fanzine if not to provide a fans' voice?

 

[Left Breathless]

What's the point in running a fanzine if not to provide a fans' voice?

From the ALS site..

At the back end of the 1980s, football fanzines began to sweep the country and in 1989 we were presented with a new vehicle on which to enjoy some of this ride – A Love Supreme. ALS was a place we could all go to celebrate and commiserate being a Sunderland fan. Win, lose or draw, the pages of the fanzine became solace for many of us as we stumbled our way through our day to day lives, punctuated by the ups and downs of more match days than any of us care to remember.

In the years since its inception, a stupidly ridiculous number of Sunderland fans have expressed their love for God’s own football team in their own way through its pages. Some of it was funny, some of it deadly serious, some of it critical, some of it complimentary, but all of it was heartfelt. Even the most biting, radical, critical stuff, written by fans at the depth of despair comes from the bottom of their heart, no matter how hard it is for many of us to swallow.

So here it is, then, your site...

It's somewhere for us to fuck about is what I get from that.

 

[not spavin]

Interesting that you chose to reply on here in fairly grown up manner, but then get back to your twitter to act like a kid again...

"all these jokes are a missed opportunity. We should be enlarging our brand. It's all about the brand Chris. Jo brand."

"we're appalling. The social media is ran by 12 year olds"

I think this tweet / FB post sums up my original point best:

"Hard to imagine anything more bent than loom bands. When I was little we used to spit at each other for entertainment. Kids these days." That's from ALS, the Independent Sunderland Football Club Fanzine. f***ing hell.

At least when you were putting out made up stories about Shola Ameobi and ridiculing little kids at the match it had a loose connection to football. Loom bands?!

"Oh, we're being funny, we're having a right laugh, man." Fine. Your audience, grow it or lose it, that's up to you.

I'll leave you to your 'factual and engaging content', you clearly don't give a fuck about your audience, and I guess that's up to you. But at least have the balls to debate it, instead of going back to your little social media clique to to ridicule people, as that's a bit spineless.

It's a f***ing outrage that the social media account that you've opted to follow doesn't provide content that's specifically tailored to your personal tastes. Sadly, there's nothing that can be done about it. You best bet it to demand that they radically change their content, I can't think of an alternat....

...HANG ON A MINUTE!

Logon or register to see this image

SEEMS SO OBVIOUS NOW!

 

[safc_grindon]

It's a f***ing outrage that the social media account that you've opted to follow doesn't provide content that's specifically tailored to your personal tastes. Sadly, there's nothing that can be done about it. You best bet it to demand that they radically change their content, I can't think of an alternat....

...HANG ON A MINUTE!

Logon or register to see this image

SEEMS SO OBVIOUS NOW!

I'm not demanding that they change it though. I'm not saying it's an outrage that it's not to my personal taste, either. I'm saying, in my opinion, the ALS twitter is pretty pointless, as they spend their time making statements about loom bands or making up false transfer rumours. That's it.

And as amusing as your gif is, it's nothing something I need - as my point was, I don't bother with ALS' social media, as, compared to someone like Andy, I get nothing from it.

I have a working interest in the media. I probably look at someone like ALS, and see, in my opinion, a wasted opportunity. Whereas most people look at and go (as a few people have said) 'the mag's good, the web's good, the social media is ran by kids'.