Media Stories, Rumours and Gossip

[Sciatika]

It's worth saying that there are bots, but there are also people expressing opinions and ideas. It is hard to distinguish one from the other and so the accusation of something being from a bot has become an easy way to criticise or undermine someone's opinions. Some claim that they are a key element in opinion-forming and that they are Russian or Chinese in origin despite a lack of clear evidence. Sometimes the purpose is to silence the opposition or enforce groupthink in a very authoritarian manner. Personally, I doubt there are a lot of bots making videos on Youtube, if only because it's quite hard to do automatically. We may just be talking about people who make videos expressing ideas that we think are wrong. That does not make them bots. Didn't we decide to avoid politics here?

Edited June 27, 2023 by Sciatika

[Holymoly]

1 hour ago, Sciatika said:

We may just be talking about people who make videos expressing ideas that we think are wrong. That does not make them bots. Didn't we decide to avoid politics here?

I'm not being remotely political here. I'm referring to Youtube accounts (I won't name names because if you visit  them you will only be bombarded by more of them) that feature "Chelsea" or "Blue" in the name for example with clickbait titles then proceed to play in an unemotional monotone randon "facts" about players we've been linked to in the past. Like others I tend only to listen to Yan at Football Therapy these days for an objective read through of the various news outlets. So many of the other fan accounts (including ChelseaFanTV unfortunately) tend to be hysterical outpourings of kneejerk reaction and it's wearing.

[Bob Singleton]

1 hour ago, Holymoly said:

I'm not being remotely political here. I'm referring to Youtube accounts (I won't name names because if you visit  them you will only be bombarded by more of them) that feature "Chelsea" or "Blue" in the name for example with clickbait titles then proceed to play in an unemotional monotone randon "facts" about players we've been linked to in the past. Like others I tend only to listen to Yan at Football Therapy these days for an objective read through of the various news outlets. So many of the other fan accounts (including ChelseaFanTV unfortunately) tend to be hysterical outpourings of kneejerk reaction and it's wearing.

They're not 'bots'.  It's more down to the general algorithms used by YouTube to push content "it" thinks interests you. Watch a video about a particular subject and you'll see other videos with similar content come up again later.  Try clearing your cache from time to time 😉

[Sciatika]

3 hours ago, Holymoly said:

I'm not being remotely political here. I'm referring to Youtube accounts (I won't name names because if you visit  them you will only be bombarded by more of them) that feature "Chelsea" or "Blue" in the name for example with clickbait titles then proceed to play in an unemotional monotone randon "facts" about players we've been linked to in the past. Like others I tend only to listen to Yan at Football Therapy these days for an objective read through of the various news outlets. So many of the other fan accounts (including ChelseaFanTV unfortunately) tend to be hysterical outpourings of kneejerk reaction and it's wearing.

It wasn't you I was referring to with my comment about politics on the forum. To be honest, I don't really look at much on social media to do with football transfers, mostly because I know that very few people know anything. I read what Matt Law has to say and frequently listen to the London Is Blue Podcast, and I read things here. That's about it. 

[jasonb]

16 hours ago, Holymoly said:

Anyone else finding their Youtube feed being populated more and more by Bot channels supposedly giving you erroneous Chelsea transfer "news"?

My fb is plastered with CFC updates, I never click on them though.

Perhaps I did once............

[thevelourfog]

7 hours ago, jasonb said:

My fb is plastered with CFC updates, I never click on them though.

Perhaps I did once............

Yep, FB is pretty much unusable now. You can select not to see certain pages again but they're just replaced with similar BS content.

[Bert19]

13 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

Yep, FB is pretty much unusable now. You can select not to see certain pages again but they're just replaced with similar BS content.

About 5 years ago, I removed the Facebook app from my devices, turned off the notifications on the messenger app and look at my account for about 20 seconds about 3 times a year now (20 seconds is about enough to remember why I never look at it) and then I log off again. 

I can honestly say that it has improved and maintained my mental wellbeing enormously. It's a cesspit of bigotry, intolerance and general awfulness.  Twitter is rapidly becoming the same too.  Shame really. 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Bert19

[Ham]

10 minutes ago, Bert19 said:

About 5 years ago, I removed the Facebook app from my devices, turned off the notifications on the messenger app and look at my account for about 20 seconds about 3 times a year now (20 seconds is about enough to remember why I never look at it) and then I log off again. 

I can honestly say that it has improved and maintained my mental wellbeing enormously. It's a cesspit of bigotry, intolerance and general awfulness.  Twitter is rapidly becoming the same too.  Shame really. 

In my opinion, Facebook is ok. The worst thing about it is people bigging themselves up and pretending to care about stuff whilst being arseholes in real life. 

Twitter, however, IS toxic.  

[Sciatika]

34 minutes ago, Ham said:

In my opinion, Facebook is ok. The worst thing about it is people bigging themselves up and pretending to care about stuff whilst being arseholes in real life. 

Twitter, however, IS toxic.  

All social media is like that. People rattle their keyboards like sabres, trying to appear like paragons but when it comes to argument usually just repeat mantras of whatever religious affiliation they are currently on board with. It is also circular as if the weight of large numbers of people saying the same thing makes it any less likely to be nonsense.

Twitter can be especially toxic, but it depends on how you use it. When I joined, I followed all the galleries, museums, Chelsea-related accounts like Juni and the official club accounts and some local accounts such as the Met in my area, the local council and so on. It was handy because I would see announcements about exhibitions and shows coming up in time to book and things like missing persons, crime reports and so on. Tbh, I don't do that so much now. There is always a danger with things like crime reports that you can be led to believe that crime is becoming normalised.  

Edited June 28, 2023 by Sciatika

[Holymoly]

I hear that UEFA are seeking to tighten the rules about multi club ownership. Figures. Other clubs have been doing it for years but as soon as we tip our toes it looks like the rules will change. Bit like extended player contracts. Looks like middle east owners can do what they like but as soon as our owners come in asking questions of the old guard the pile of bricks is dropped on our heads. I suppose we don't oil the gears of UEFA and FIFA to the same degree as Saudi or Qatar.

[Bob Singleton]

17 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

I hear that UEFA are seeking to tighten the rules about multi club ownership. Figures. Other clubs have been doing it for years but as soon as we tip our toes it looks like the rules will change. Bit like extended player contracts. Looks like middle east owners can do what they like but as soon as our owners come in asking questions of the old guard the pile of bricks is dropped on our heads. I suppose we don't oil the gears of UEFA and FIFA to the same degree as Saudi or Qatar.

https://www.90min.com/posts/why-have-chelsea-bought-strasbourg

 

The good news for Chelsea's owners is that there have been signs of a softened stance from Europe's governing bodies. In March 2023, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hinted at some wiggle room.

"We've had five or six owners of clubs who want to buy another club," he explained. "We have to see what to do. The options are that it stays like that or that we allow them to play in the same competition. I'm not sure yet.

---

[Bones]

Wtf 😂

[thevelourfog]

6 hours ago, Bones said:

Wtf 😂

We've been caught blue-handed!

[Mark Kelly]

11 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

We've been caught blue-handed!

As I said years ago .

Chelsea bad.

We are the baddies, and City get free reign 

[Bones]

19 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

As I said years ago .

Chelsea bad.

We are the baddies, and City get free reign 

Absolutely. Such rubbish from The Sun.

[Mark Kelly]

 

[RDCW]

Terrible news about Fiona Phillips of ITV. She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 62, having lost both of her parents to this horrible disease.

She is a lifelong Chelsea fan and has had season tickets in the MHU for many years. I have often seen her with her family in the queue at the turnstiles and on the concourse in the MHU. This is a shocking diagnosis for someone so young. Very sad.

[Backbiter]

That's shocking. Just awful.

[Ham]

2 hours ago, RDCW said:

Terrible news about Fiona Phillips of ITV. She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 62, having lost both of her parents to this horrible disease.

She is a lifelong Chelsea fan and has had season tickets in the MHU for many years. I have often seen her with her family in the queue at the turnstiles and on the concourse in the MHU. This is a shocking diagnosis for someone so young. Very sad.

Very sad.  Father in law passed very recently as a result of dementia. Went downhill so quickly. 

It's simply horrifying how this disease changes everything about the person and how massively it impacts family and friends.

A really kind, proud and hard working man became a spiteful, angry shell of a man.  Needed looking after like a toddler for the last year. 

The most cruel of diseases.  

I didn't know she was a Chelsea fan and wish her all the best. 💙

[My Blood Is Blue]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

Very sad.  Father in law passed very recently as a result of dementia. Went downhill so quickly. 

It's simply horrifying how this disease changes everything about the person and how massively it impacts family and friends.

A really kind, proud and hard working man became a spiteful, angry shell of a man.  Needed looking after like a toddler for the last year. 

The most cruel of diseases.  

I didn't know she was a Chelsea fan and wish her all the best. 💙

I likewise, lost my Grandmother to this truly cruel disease. I'd never appreciated just how awful and sad it is until I witnessed it first-hand, it is absolutely no way for anybody to spend their final years on this planet.

Best wishes go to Fiona and her family, who from what I have read today, have been through it and then some in recent years.

[JaneB]

I too saw Fiona at Stamford Bridge many moons ago with her two young (then) sons.

I always remember her sticking up for Chelsea on the TV the morning after Man U beat us in the CL Final and no one had a kind word to say about us.  She wasn't having any of it.  A true supporter.

I'm praying the experimental drug she is on will slow the progress of her illness right down.

 

[chara]

4 minutes ago, JaneB said:

I too saw Fiona at Stamford Bridge many moons ago with her two young (then) sons.

I always remember her sticking up for Chelsea on the TV the morning after Man U beat us in the CL Final and no one had a kind word to say about us.  She wasn't having any of it.  A true supporter.

I'm praying the experimental drug she is on will slow the progress of her illness right down.

 

Thank you Jane for being as ever, a really decent voice on here .

Sets a standard in essence followed by the membership once the tribalism of the game is risen above.

[JaneB]

Some lovely heartfelt posts here @chara

And I was getting het up about Mason Mount leaving.  Insignificant to what really matters.

[Bert19]

48 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

I likewise, lost my Grandmother to this truly cruel disease. I'd never appreciated just how awful and sad it is until I witnessed it first-hand, it is absolutely no way for anybody to spend their final years on this planet.

Best wishes go to Fiona and her family, who from what I have read today, have been through it and then some in recent years.

Same thing happened to my family. My Gran had Alzheimer's for nearly 10 years.  It was a horrible thing to watch, worse for her and everyone else to go through. 

I have to admit I never liked GMTV as a kid (and I loathe Eamonn Holmes, awful smug man), but I can only wish the best for Fiona and her family here.  I hope they can find strength and support on their journey ahead and credit to her for being brave enough to share her story and hopefully help others along the way.

 

Edited July 5, 2023 by Bert19

[Mark Kelly]

Best friends Mum currently suffering and he's just heard his older brother (only 67) now has an aggressive type, it's a horrible disease for the person but equally as horrible for those who care for them. 

Wishing good luck to Fiona, a celebrity blue who really is proper Chels.