IT was back in February 2016 when relegation-bound Aston Villa were thrashed 6-0 at home by Liverpool in the Premier League.
Eight years on and the events of the game aren’t particularly easy to remember. What many fans will recall is Joleon Lescott ‘accidentally’ tweeting a picture of an expensive, shiny car not long after the game, leaving Villa fans left infuriated.
The clumsy moment was a useful reminder of the pitfalls for footballers on social media. While platforms like Twitter and Instagram gives players a chance to interact with and feel the love from adoring supporters, it also exposes them to abuse and negativity which, thick-skinned or not, can be difficult for any individual to take.
Millwall’s player of the season Ryan Leonard dabbles in using different online platforms but says he makes sure to take regular breaks.
He told NewsAtDen: “I do use it a little bit but I wouldn’t say I’m big on social media. I like to put things on there now and again.
“Over the summer I don’t really use it too much. I try and switch off and enjoy a break mentally as well as physically. Sometimes it can be good to get a break from it.
“During the season, I’m a small user of social media but it’s always nice to have a rest and refresh from it.
“I do think it’s important to use it to connect with fans and family and things like that and there’s definitely a place for it.”
Meanwhile, striker Tom Bradshaw, who also spoke to NewsAtDen on this topic, enjoys the “positive environment” he sees on online platforms.
He said: “I use Instagram quite a lot. I’ve got quite a positive relationship with the fans, I think the fans have taken to me.
“It’s something that I use quite a lot, especially after games and [after I score] goals and stuff like that. For me it’s a positive environment but I also understand some players that tend to avoid it because it can have negative connotations.”
For George Honeyman, his relationship with social media is more complicated and the midfielder said he has left most apps behind.
He said: “When it first came out I was a teenager so I couldn’t get off it.
“But honestly I’ve probably been coming off it more and more over the years to the point where now, if you count WhatsApp as social media, it’s the only one I have.
“I think it’s just because when I was younger and breaking into the first team at Sunderland, you can’t help but look for stuff. You might see 10 positive comments but you’ll remember the one negative one and it kind of became a whirlpool every week.
“And it’s funny because when you speak to the lads, everyone has gone through the same thing. When you first get on it, you think it’s amazing and then you notice there’s some not-so-nice comments. And there’s something bizarre about the human brain in that you kind of go searching for those.
“The longer I went on, the more I realised I don’t need this.”
The midfielder adds that he was also happy to leave behind the addictive nature of endless scrolling.
He said: “You know that automatic thing where you click on [an app] and you keep scrolling and you don’t even know what you’re looking for? I was doing that way too often and I was like ‘this is adding nothing to my life’ and I decided to come off it altogether.”
Full-back Danny McNamara believes there are positives of social media so keeps up with some of it.
He said: “I don’t really use Twitter to be honest, but I use a bit of Instagram. I like to see family photos and see what’s going on in the world.
“There’s loads of positives and you can block [the negative parts of social media] out. You can see your families, the sports you’re interested in like golf.
“Twitter I’ve come away from just because there is a lot of negatives on there as well as positives.”
While Brooke Norton-Cuffy, who has returned to Arsenal after his season-long loan spell, has changed how he’s used online platforms during the course of his career.
He said: “Social media’s an interesting one because I feel like it’s important to try and keep fans engaged and keep people in the loop.
“But a lot of people have opinions on social media so you have to be careful online not reading tweets about yourself and stuff like that.
“I used to do it a lot when I first broke through but good game, bad game, I feel like you’re either going to get a high or get a low. And even if you see 100 comments saying ‘you’re great’ and then see five saying ‘he’s the worst player I’ve seen’, it’s still going to affect you in some sort of way. So just to keep everything level, don’t try to look for yourself online and concentrate on your football.
“If you want to post, then post. But don’t be reading into the gossip that’s going on.”