john terry: footballer or philanderer - the social media story
TRANSCRIPT
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John Terry:
Footballer or Philanderer?
The Social Media Story
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A WEEK OF WEEKS FOR JOHN TERRY
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A UK court lifts a media gagging
order preventing publication of
allegations about England and
Chelsea captain John Terry’s
private life.
A tabloid frenzy breaks out
accusing John Terry, married
father of two of having an affair
with Vanessa Perroncel
Girlfriend of his England and
Chelsea team mate Wayne Bridge.
The Sunday Tabloids go to town.
The News of the World who broke
the story dedicate 10 pages to The
Truth about Terry . Meanwhile
Chelsea win 2-1 against Burnley
and John Terry scores the winning
goal.
Chelsea Manager Carlo Ancelotti
come out in support of John Terry
and affirms his commitment to
Terry as a player and a person. The
first of 29 user generated videos
mocking John Terry were posted on
YouTube.
Vanessa Perroncel hires Max
Clifford, well known UK publicist
and a tabloid bidding war breaks
out for Vanessa’s story. She is
rumored to be offered over £1 million to tell her story.
John Terry’s wife leaves with her
family for a trip to Dubai and to
think about her next move. Tabloid
consensus is that she will file for
divorce.
Vanessa Perroncel is linked with
another Premiership footballer and
the tabloids turn the spotlight on
her.
John Terry announces Chelsea
have granted him a leave of
absence to focus on his family life
and will miss Chelsea's FA cup
match against Cardiff on February
13th.
Vanessa Perroncel states that she
will NOT be telling her side of the
story to any newspapers.
John Terry is finally stripped of the
England Captaincy by Fabio
Capello.
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THE BIG QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING
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Has John Terry alienated
genuine football fans?
NO According to football forums
Did Fabio Capello make
the right decision?
MAYBE NOT: If you believe in the wisdom of crowds
Is it all bad news for
Terry?
NOT REALLYForum contributors and bloggers are
giving him the benefit of the doubt
Can being a hero on the
football field make up for
being a villain off the
field?
YESAccording to twitter
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LOOKING AT SENTIMENT ACROSS DIFFERENT SOCIAL MEDIA
IS IT ALL BAD NEWS FOR JOHN TERRY?
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JOHN TERRY IS GETTING COVERAGE IN ALL SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS
Microblog
76%
Mainstream
12%
Blogs
4%
Forums
2%
Video/Photo
sharing
1%
Social Network
5%
It is not ALL bad for Terry – at least from a channel perspective.
If you are looking for the upside, blogs and forums are the least negative
channels. These are also the channels where points are argued and
thought out and opinions are made. On balance , they are sharing
balanced opinions and neutral views rather than assassinating Terry’s
character. The real bloggers have left that to the tweeters.
Although Twitter and other microblogs account for over two thirds of posts
and sentiment is negative, twitter posts are of the moment, short lived and
as you will see later, can shift quickly and dramatically.
Video may not a major channel but as anyone who has spent any time on
the football terraces will know, football fan’s chanting can be very cruel
indeed. Their user generated videos are no more merciful. The most
viewed John Terry You Tube video is a parody of Michael Jackson’s Beat It,
to the refrain of He Cheated. To date, it has received over 46,000 views
since its first posting on Jan 30th.
VOLUME OF POSTS BY CHANNEL
FORUM
CHANNEL
15%
34%
positive
17%
22%
neutral
69%
44%
negative
OVERALL SENTIMENT METRICS
BLOGS 19% 53% 28%
YOU TUBE 18% 60%
SENTIMENT BY CHANNEL
SENTIMENT BY CHANNEL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kou5mgu7XM
22%
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VOLUME OF SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
BY TOPIC (28th Jan – 2nd Feb)
NOT ONLY IS HE GETTING COVERAGE, BUT IT IS FOCUSED ON FOOTBALL
• The publicity around John
Terry’s private life
undoubtedly started the
social media fire.
• But in only 8 days, his strong
performance on the field and
his undeniable sporting skills
have meant that the
conversation has quickly
moved from Terry the
philanderer back to Terry the
footballer.
• Footballer 1 – 0 Philanderer
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
John Terry
as
England
Captain
John Terry
and
Chelsea
John Terry
and
football
John Terry
affair
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LOOKING THROUGH THE TWITTER LENS
CAN BEING A HERO ON THE FOOTBALL
FIELD MAKE UP FOR BEING A VILLAIN
OFF THE FIELD?
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-200
300
800
1300
1800
2300
2800
3300
3800
25th Jan 26th Jan 27th Jan 28th Jan 29th Jan 30th Jan 31st Jan 1st Feb
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES WHEN YOU ARE JOHN TERRY
The news story
breaks
0
Focus on
football =
improving
sentiment
Terry is not big
news on social
media - 1-5 posts
per day in the lead
up to the story
Terry scores the
winning goal in
Chelsea’s 2-1 victory
over Burnley
Brand Terry
stays in the
news for the
right reasons:
a footballer
trying to sort
out his life
The first of 29 videos
about John Terry is
published on You Tube
Focus on philandering
= negative sentiment
• Only time will tell but early
indications are that people want
to forgive John Terry because
he is a great footballer.
• Terry’s goal against Burnley
gave fans and social
commentators an opportunity to
change the conversation from
Terry the philanderer to Terry
the footballer
• This switch in content drove a
switch in sentiment :
forgiveness and empathy
emerged.
I hope Terry will
be able to cope
with his family
problem & idiotic
tabloids. To me
he still is the best
football player.
John Terry has
done a ‘Tiger
Woods', only its
more serious
coz it involves
his ex team
mate Wayne
Bridge
FROM ……
……TO
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600
tweets
190
tweets
#teamterry
#teambridge
FACT: SCORING ON THE FIELD WINS YOU MORE FANS THAN SCORING OFF THE FIELD
• #Teambridge and #teamterry
kicked off on the 29th when
the story broke. Both brands
fans ran head to head until
‘The Goal’.
• Between the 30th of January
and the 1st of February,
supportive posts for John
Terry outstripped support for
Wayne Bridge 3 to 1.
• If this was a game of twitter
top trumps: football skill
trumps philandering intrigue
which in turn definitely
trumps Bridge’s cuckold
status.
• Footballer 2 – 0 Philanderer
Twitter posts to #teamterry and #teambridge
between Jan 30th and Feb 1st
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ANALYSIS OF POSTS IN KEY FAN FORUMS
HAS JOHN TERRY ALIENATED GENUINE
FOOTBALL FANS?
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THE FAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE FOOTBALLER / PHILANDERER DEBATE
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Terry Injunction Lifted
John Terry in alleged scandal
SAMPLE THREAD
Manchester City
Chelsea
FAN FORUM
222
308
POSTS
8%
43%
positive
51%
33%
neutral
41%
24%
negative
OVERALL SENTIMENT METRICS
Should John Terry remain
England CaptainManchester United 65 0% 0% 100%
MAINLY POSITIVE SENTIMENT:
• The fans see the footballer first.
• They empathize and agree that his
private life is his private life. His
footballing future should be
defined by his footballing skill.
PRAGMATIC NEGATIVE SENTIMENTS:
• Key theme is DISAPPOINTMENT.
Terry was a respected father figure
on and off the field. They feel
conned by Brand Terry.
DOMINATING NEGATIVE SENTIMENT:
• Terry accused of sabotaging
England's World Cup chances.
• How will Bridge and Terry play
together?
• Terry is considered to have
crossed a line in male etiquette –
a team mate’s girlfriend is
definitely off limits.
NEGATIVE SENTIMENTS,
ARTICULATED THROUGH HUMOUR:
• The campaign to make Wayne
Rooney England captain begins
here.
• Jokes like ‘ Well he has certainly
burned his bridges with Wayne’
show the Man U fans’ glee at
Terry’s actions.
The Chelsea Fan view: The Manchester City Fan view: The Man United Fan view:
THE THEMES BEHIND THE SENTIMENT
SENTIMENT WITHIN KEY FAN FORUMS
Footballer 3– 0 Philanderer
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THE WISDOM OF CROWDS IN SOCIAL MEDIA
SO DID FABIO CAPELLO MAKE THE
RIGHT DECISION?
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SHOULD JOHN TERRY HAVE BEEN FIRED AS ENGLAND CAPTAIN?
The wisdom of the social media crowd So was Fabio Capello right?
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guardian.co.uk 61%
YES
30%
NO
Thisislondon.co.uk 31% 69%
Thefootballnetwork.net 50% 50%
Sticksports.com 43% 57%
Forums.electronicarts.co.uk 48% 52%
Uk.toluna.co.uk 54% 46%
• The social media universe has remained split on the
issue of Terry’s England captaincy.
• People who understand and love football see that his
leadership of the England team is critical to both
performance and morale in the England camp.
• But, the more rational thinker see that the tabloids
have done too much damage to Terry for him to have
credibility.
A SELECTION OF ONLINE POLLS
THAT TOOK PLACE THIS WEEK
• Based on the voice of social media, we’d have to say no.
John Terry is clearly loved as a footballer and is being
quickly forgiven for philandering.
• Terry was quickly judged for his off field behaviour, but the
value he brings to English football when wearing the
captain’s armband is there for us all to see in blogs, fan
forums and most importantly on the football field.
• Even on twitter, the initial vitriol on his affair has moved
from moral posturing to talking about what matters – who
should lead England to victory in this years World Cup.
• It is the tabloid press who have forced Fabio’s hand in
taking the decision to let John Terry go. Only two weeks
ago the same newspaper that broke the story were
heralding Terry as the only man to lead the England team
into their World Cup preparations.
• So what is the message to Fabio Capello?
• No matter how you feel about what has happened, this is
not about morality, it is about something much more
important: Football.
• We all hope that you are right and we are wrong as right
now the final score feels like:
• Tabloids 1 – 0 Football
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