There is always the danger of social media becoming an echo chamber.
The majority of Twitter, now known as X, users follow and engage with what they want to see, which means the strength of feeling behind some opinions can be deceiving.
Jeremy Corbyn seemed to have significant backing in the 2019 election because his supporters shouted the loudest on social media, but a charlatan Boris Johnson became prime minister with a landslide victory instead, giving the Conservatives their biggest majority since the 1980s.
That episode taught a valuable modern-day lesson about social media – treat mass opinions on Twitter with a healthy degree of scepticism to prevent being shocked.
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Politics is a divisive topic, just like the current debate around whether Manchester United should sack Erik ten Hag after winning the FA Cup against Manchester City at Wembley.
Unlike in the 2019 general election, red prevailed over blue in the FA Cup final last weekend and Ten Hag claimed a trophy for a successive season in charge of United.
There have been three days since that special afternoon and the dust is settling. Ten Hag’s future has dominated the news agenda and supporters have continued to debate whether he should be kept or given a friendly handshake goodbye after a dismal Premier League campaign.
Although not surprising considering the emotions involved after winning the FA Cup, there have been growing calls across social media to stick with Ten Hag over the last few days. Multiple accounts have conducted polls on Ten Hag’s future and the overwhelming majority of the votes have been in favour of keeping the 54-year-old for next season.
That has been supported by the MEN’s survey, which asked readers whether Ten Hag had done enough to save his job after winning the FA Cup. At the time of writing, there had been over 10,000 responses and just more than 7,800 fans said Ten Hag deserves to stay in charge, which suggests those social media polls on his future weren’t misleading after all.
The results mean 78 per cent of the MEN’s readership wants Ten Hag to stay after his FA Cup triumph, a huge rise from the 39 per cent of fans who were in favour of keeping the Dutchman when answering the same survey question after the 4-0 hammering against Crystal Palace.
In the 19 days between United’s embarrassing defeat against Palace and lifting the FA Cup at Wembley, the number of fans in favour of keeping Ten Hag has doubled.
There’s also been a strong reception to the MEN’s report on Monday that revealed United are considering retaining Ten Hag, despite assessing a number of possible successors. United approached the FA Cup with underdog status and the emotions provoked by recording a stunning victory have clearly influenced the fanbase’s thinking on Ten Hag.
The elephant in the room is United fans won’t decide whether Ten Hag is sacked or not. They must have their views considered, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a billionaire who has built his fortune by making ruthless, calculated decisions, won’t make an emotional decision on the manager.
Ratcliffe has begun his time as United co-owner by ushering in a ‘best in class’ approach in the boardroom and he’s hired sharp football brains to decide on Ten Hag.
The feeling has been Ten Hag’s future would be decided on months of evidence, not just based on the outcome of the FA Cup final, even if United defied the odds and won it.
United cannot make an emotional decision on Ten Hag after winning the FA Cup. The facts cannot be ignored after a dismal season because finishing eighth is simply not good enough.
It seems like sacking Ten Hag would now be an unpopular decision, but sometimes difficult business decisions must be made, despite a majority disagreeing with it.
Should Ten Hag part ways with United, it’s believed he would receive a £9million payout and sacking the Dutchman would represent Ratcliffe’s first contentious decision. Whatever Ratcliffe decides, he won’t be as unpopular as Boris Johnson as prime minister. Hopefully things can only get better next season.