The online F1 community has grown substantially in recent years. Whether it's on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Youtube, the community is continuously growing and is becoming as big and as diverse as it's ever been. But is the influence of social media on our sport good or bad? It's an interesting discussion, for sure.
Ten years ago, the F1 Twitter community, or"F1Twt" as the kids these days say, was quite a small and friendly online community. It wasn't perfect, nothing is, but it was an enjoyable place to talk about our sport, meet fans alike and, at times, easily communicate with our favourite drivers and teams. Fast forward to 2022 and it's a whole new world.
First off, a quick overview of F1's rapid growth. There are many factors out there which contribute to the sport's rapid growth in popularity in the past couple of years. From the domination era of Lewis Hamilton from 2014-2020, to Max Verstappen's rise to F1 success and not to mention the docu-series Drive to Survive which debuted on Netflix in 2019. But for me, there is one factor that stands out above the rest and that is social media.
F1's lack of social media presence and accessibility has been questioned significantly in the past. The content wasn't available to draw new fans in. Many fans pay to watch the sport but with the introduction of Drive to Survive, an F1 Youtube channel and F1 TV, things are slowly becoming more accessible. And, with teams and drivers alike creating their own social media pages, fans are getting access into the world of F1 around the clock. It never really ends. Also with F1's social media managers and content creators constantly jumping on the latest trends, it's inevitable that new people will come across this, for example, on their TikTok "For You" page and thus will be introduced to the world of Formula One. But, not only is social media giving fans access into the insights of Formula One, it's also giving fans a chance to meet like-minded people which is how the F1 Community has been formed across several social media platforms. The want for F1 content is off the charts and F1 is starting to provide just that.
Continuing on the subject of content, social media has influenced the amount of F1 blogs (such as this one), "Youtubers" and "TikTokers." F1 fans have been given a voice and a chance to share their content with the world. Whether it is a blog post, a news article or a video/reel, fans are getting creative and are showing their love for the sport that wasn't exactly possible ten years ago. What is also an interest is the amount of people, especially females, getting into the sport with ambitions of becoming social media managers, journalists, pod casters, content creators etc. And, females are specifically mentioned because social media is positively influencing the normality of woman in motorsport. The evolution of the sport over the times has been incredible.
However, the highs of social media comes with the lows and the F1 community, especially on Twitter, seems to be riddled with toxicity at times.
Social media in itself can be an unhealthy place to be. Whether it's on a computer or a smart phone, users are sat behind a screen. They can be who they want and say what they want without any regret or remorse. The F1 community is anything but immune to this behaviour with members sending hate or "slander" not just to each other but to anyone in the world of F1. Sadly this also includes drivers and team personnel. Cyber bullying is a problem and exists in the world of F1. It can be mentally and even physically harmful but unfortunately due to anonymity this problem may never be resolved and that's across the whole of social media and all the different platforms.
Then there is the issue of what is actually posted to social media. It's extremely easy for things to be taken out of context and thus rumours are born. And, like with Chinese whispers, the rumours continue to change and a completely different story is created. Plus, the rate in which things spreads via social media is extremely rapid. Maybe faster than a Formula One car, so to speak. Also, there have been instances where drivers (not naming any names) have had their older tweets brought to light. These tweets may have included slurs that are definitely frowned upon in this day and age. And, it's not just past posts. Another driver, well ex-driver (again, no names but you could probably guess who) posted a video where he treated a woman disrespectfully causing a storm on social media and rightfully so. Everything in this paragraph are instances that can end a person's career and although no on in F1 has had their careers ended by the power of social media as of yet, it wouldn't surprise me if one day they did.
In conclusion, social media has a pretty good relationship with the world of F1. You just have to look at the sport's popularity and the very dysfunctional family that is the F1 community to realise that. Not everything can be perfect and that includes social media but for now it's influence is what F1 needs in order for the sport to continue to grow into the worldwide phenomenon that it hopes to be.
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