If you’re a regular reader of this blog or follow me on Twitter you’ll know I’m a Liverpool supporter. It’s not been a good season for us thus far, which is a bit of an understatement. But it seems the world of Liverpool and social media communications are colliding.

This week Liverpool player Ryan Babel caused a media storm – well, in football circles– by tweeting that he’d been dropped by Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez ahead of today’s match against Stoke. Babel announced to followers: “got some disappointing news…the Boss left me out the squad. No explanation.”

Benitez later complained at Liverpool’s press conference ahead of the Stoke game: “Everyone has a Twitter. It’s impossible to stop people talking. It’s not like in the past. It is more than just football.”

Babel, who looks to be on the verge of being sold by Liverpool, then went on to tweet: “One day, you will see what I’m capable off (sic), will it be at LFC or somewhere else…I have faith

The Motto of the Story

Employers, including major football clubs, might like to think about having
a social media policy.

Ryan Babel clearly broke protocol by announcing to the world that he wasn’t going to feature in his teams must-win match at the weekend – that they actually went on to draw!

But what if your employees started tweeting about your products-in-development? Or some game-changing widget you’re set to release.

As Ryan Babel showed this week: disgruntled employees are on Twitter. Are you listening to what your employees are saying?

Do we need to roll out social media guidelines for work? Or draconian policies?
What do you think?