It is becoming ever so common for the modern day footballer to court controversy one way or the other. Ryan Giggs, Manchester United’s Welsh “wizard” has landed himself in hot water; or rather should I say Twitter has just left the Manutd legend exposed.

The super-injunction which Giggs took out (over allegations of an extra-marital affair) seems not to have had the desired effect as the Twitter-verse went gung-ho and spread the news of the alleged affair with British model Imogen Thomas. The issue for me is really not the affair or the super-injunction, for me it is about the power of social media. Time and again we hear how powerful social media platforms are, but I really think their power is underestimated.  Giggs’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson last week came out and said he did not see why players should care about Twitter. He said Manutd would consider coming up with a policy on Twitter usage by players. I am sure Rio Ferdinand, who is unofficially the number one footballer tweeting, will have something different to say.

Twitter and other social media platforms are generally uncontrolled. There aren’t any discernable laws which govern these platforms and this is where the power lies, as Mr Giggs would attest by now. Rumours are doing the rounds on Twitter that Giggs wants to sue Twitter.

He has also asked the social media giant to trace the first person who tweeted about the alleged affair. Well, clearly Giggs has taken it too far, there is absolutely no way that Twitter would agree to such demands.

Again, it’s quite apparent that Giggs does not comprehend the essence of social media platforms-it is not something one can control, it’s a free environment where anyone can say anything. The users reign supreme and surely Giggs can sue all he wants but the bottom line is that Twitter has exposed him.

I must conclude though by saying that I am a big Manutd fan and have followed Giggs’s career from when he broke into the squad in 1993-94. I sincerely hope that this simmering issue does not affect Manutd’s champion’s league final preparations. Giggs with all his experience will be vital on Saturday against an out of this world Barca side.

Tags: #Manchester United, #Ryan Giggs, #social media, #Social Networking, #Twitter