How do we survive on 'Football Twitter' when it's so homophobic? An IDAHOBIT conversation

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are on Twitter and
within that, there's 'Football Twitter' - the sizeable cohort of
users who support their clubs fiercely, who comment on the latest
news and gossip constantly, and who interact with just about
anything to do with the game.


'Football Twitter' (or 'FT') has also become notorious for
anti-LGBTQ+ abuse and discrimination. As the platform continues
to grow in toxicity and reach, it appears to be an increasingly
unpleasant place to hang out for anyone who loves football but
doesn't fit the 'FT mould'.


On this episode of the FvH Podcast, we're joined by broadcaster
and Arsenal YouTuber Sophie Nicolaou - aka @soccerdiva - and
journalist and researcher Finbarr Toesland.


Sophie tells us about her own experiences of harassment and abuse
from a noisy 'FT' minority - but she also explains how she's
still able to find her tribe on Twitter.


Finbarr discusses the new report he's authored exploring how
LGBTQ+ journalists - including football content creators - are
being targeted on social media, and his recommendations to media
organisations and brands. He feels they need to understand how
and why abuse happens and the effect it has on individuals.


This episode, hosted and produced by Sports Media LGBT+'s Jon
Holmes, is being released to coincide with the global awareness
day IDAHOBIT (the International Day against Homophobia,
Transphobia and Biphobia) on May 17, and Mental Health Awareness
Week in the UK.


Show your support for FvH! Activate the campaign in your football
space - just head to footballvhomophobia.com for info, downloads
and resources, and how to contact the FvH team.


Links


Sophie Nicolaou on Twitter - https://twitter.com/soccerdiva


Finbarr Toesland on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FinbarrToesland


Read Finn's report: 'Are media organisations adequately
protecting LGBTQ journalists from harassment and abuse?' -
https://www.bcu.ac.uk/media/research/sir-lenny-henry-centre-for-media-diversity/research


IDAHOBIT - https://may17.org


Mental Health Awareness Week -
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week


Thank you for listening - please subscribe, rate, review and
share on socials. We're at @FvHtweets on Twitter;
@football_v_homophobia on Instagram; and you can like us on
Facebook too.


Music


Me & You by MusicbyAden | https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden


Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com


Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported


https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US