Follow me!
Snooker may not be the most internet friendly sport, indeed I cannot think of another sport where neither the world number one or two has their own website, but with the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, that is just beginning to change. Click below for my lowdown on who to follow on Twitter…
As those who know me will testify, social networking has never been particularly up my street, indeed I have so far successfully resisted all attempts of people to get me onto Facebook and do not intend to cave in any time soon.
Next Monday however does mark the second birthday of my Twitter account, originally set up so that I could post snippets from my trip to the Crucible this year and other shorts from the snooker world that perhaps did not merit a full post of their own on the blog. Aside from that though I didn’t really see the point of it.
What I quickly discovered however is that it is an excellent resource for breaking news, not just in snooker and more often than not if there is a story to be broken, if will first come to light on Twitter. As many of you will also have experienced following my coverage of the World Championship qualifiers, the site also allowed me to provide reasonably detailed coverage of the action which proved to be pretty popular (if I do say so myself!), not least because of the lack of live-streaming or detailed match-reports coming from the EISS.
Hammering my Twitter app as throughout the World Qualifiers!
So from a snooker point of view who are those worth following?
When I first set up my account I can’t actually remember if any players were on Twitter but during the past six months in particular there have been a fair few sign-ups, indeed I make there to be 15 current professionals currently on the site. Whether all of them are actually updated by the players themselves or by their managers is another matter but something is better than nothing!
Of those who have been ‘tweeting’ for a while now, the most prolific follows include Matthew Stevens (@MattStevens147), Mark Selby (@markjesterselby), Mark King (@markking147), Stuart Bingham (@Stuart__Bingham), Jimmy White (@jimmywhite147) and Mike Dunn (@mikedunnsnooker). Steve Daintry (@mngrsteve147), is also a good follow for all things Ali Carter.
Mark Selby was probably the first sign-up, unsurprisingly given the quality of his blogs and his website that have been around for a few years now, while the others are certainly good value both during tournaments and away from them. The only thing I would say is that given the content of some of his jokes, Mike Dunn is probably not a follow for children!
A prolific Twitterer!
Newer twitterers include world champion Neil Robertson (@nr147), Jack Lisowski (@jacklisowski), Michael Holt (@hitmanholt), Mark Allen (@pistol147) and today’s sign-up, Shaun Murphy (@magician147). Both Jack and Shaun appear to be competing to have the most amusing profile picture while Neil spends most of his time talking about Chelsea. Boo hiss. I quite like that though as it is good to see the players talking about what interests them away from the table as well as on it.
Another player involved is Steve Davis (@stevesnooker), though he had not posted anything in a year before today and even in the past it tended to only be during the big BBC events. On the amateur side meanwhile, PSB Blogger Michael Wasley (@MichaelWasley) is another recent sign-up as well as SnookerBacker favourite Allan Taylor (@TheAssassinFile).
As well as the players though there are several other people involved, not least the referees who include Michaela Tabb (@MichaelaTabb), Jan Verhaas (@janverhaas) and Paul Collier (@welshref).
Neal Foulds – cricket expert
On the media/blogging front meanwhile there are also several regulars who engage in a good bit of banter from time to time, including myself (@prosnookerblog), Snooker Scene’s David Hendon (@davehendon), SnookerBacker (@Snookerbacker1), Neal Foulds (@fouldsy147 – although you could be forgiven for thinking he were a cricketer at times!), the BBC’s Mark Ashenden (@bbcsport_mark), John McBride (@JohnMcBrideIRE – still hitting them!), Pete Williams (@cuesporttv), Snooker Island (@snookerisland), Janie Watkins (@weewelshwitch), The Snooker Forum (@thesnookerforum) and Ruth McAvinia (@ruthie147).
I am fully aware that I will have forgotten several people in there so apologies to anyone missed!
A note of caution however, there are some accounts that are not all that they would seem, the main example being @kendoherty which is NOT that of the 1997 world champion.
Hopefully over the coming months we will see more and more players join and provide us with an insight into their thinking during the season and particularly during individual tournaments. More than that though, it is an excellent way for players to connect with fans directly and help to demonstrate their own personalities which can only help the image of the sport. Critics are often (unfairly), bemoaning the lack of characters in the sport and sites such as Twitter can help to dispel this accusation.
Hopefully the governing body too will take note as their feed (@worldsnooker1), is far from the best when compared for example to that for tennis (@atpworldtour).