10 reasons why more than 10,000 people follow F1 Fanatic on Twitter
Twitter: it’s not all celebrity gossip and what someone had for breakfast. There’s loads of cool F1 stuff on there too.
The F1 Fanatic Twitter account passed a major milestone last week – it now has over 10,000 followers.
If you’re not following F1 Fanatic on Twitter yet, here’s what you’re missing out on and how to join in:
News as it breaks
The big stories always get a plug – even if they break at unsociable hours…
Coverage of every F1 session
Races, qualifying, practice, testing: if there’s an F1 car in action somewhere it’s being Tweeted.
Find other people to follow…
More and more F1 people are joining in on Twitter.
…and who to ignore
Steer clear of the time-wasting fakes.
Site notices
If you’re having trouble getting on F1 Fanatic there may be an explanation why here.
Links
Whether it’s something unearthed on Youtube or an interesting article for another site, I share a lot of links on Twitter.
The rumour mill
Who says what about who goes where.
Competition reminders
Never miss those competition entry deadlines.
Content updates
Not all the new material on F1 Fanatic ends up on the home page or in the RSS feed – but it often gets a mention on Twitter.
And more from the community
There’s loads of F1 Fanatic community members on there too!
How to join
Visit www.twitter.com to set up your free account.
Once you’re logged in, go to www.twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk, hit ‘follow’ – and make sure you say hello!
How to find F1 drivers and others on Twitter
Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello are among the F1 drivers on Twitter and almost all the teams now have accounts.
Head on over to the F1 Twitter directory to find hundreds of official F1 and motor racing-related accounts to follow.
Read more: The 2010 F1 grid on Twitter
LAK said on 19th September 2010, 8:43
Couldn’t agree with you more! Any F1Fs who are not on twitter yet are missing out big time! The F1 community has taken twitter by storm, it’s simply the easiest way to keep up with the latest news. From journalists to official team members to the drivers themselves, you get the news directly from them :)
Of course @f1fanatic_co_uk provides the best all rounded updates as well as live updates during the races, practices, and qualifying! Don’t miss out!
miguelF1O (@) said on 19th September 2010, 13:17
im out of Twitter or Facebook we mustnt be obligated to have an account on a certain website.Do you all use the same browser probably no but you all can visit f1fanatic.co.uk whats the point of following twitter during races, you are missing the race! i read the teams website and press and fans websites like bbc autosport and f1fanatic after the race because the commentators are supose to inform the vieweres of what is happening on track i dont need instant news
Accidental Mick said on 19th September 2010, 9:30
I know – I’m a boring old fart who is not even allowed a password to the forum BUT
It strikes me that twitter is an online gossip forum. News passed on immediately is unlikely to have been reseached as to its validity or even its interest to other people. Keith, if you don’t feel it is worth mentioing in an article, I’m not going to bother with it.
silencer said on 19th September 2010, 9:35
I wonder why claireWilliams is not very active lately on twitter; unlike early in the season I think williamF1 twitter is the most active among any official F1 team twitter especially on race weekend.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 19th September 2010, 9:39
I was wondering that the other day – since they re-branded their Twitter feed it’s become much quieter.
gabal said on 20th September 2010, 9:31
I think it has to do with sickness of her mother (Frank’s wife). Ever since she announced she won’t be coming to a race because she needs to take care of that updates from Williams account have been scarce.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 20th September 2010, 9:36
Oh I hadn’t heard that. That’s sad.
LosD said on 19th September 2010, 10:00
Top (only) reason not to follow F1Fanatic on Twitter:
You’ll have to use Twitter.
M.M.C (@mmc) said on 19th September 2010, 10:05
Twitter’s not that bad; It just depends on who you’re following.
Anyway, I’ve been following both F1 Fanatic Accounts for sometime now, and you’re doing a top job, Keith.
Keep it up. :]
Victor. said on 19th September 2010, 11:25
Exactly. I hate Twitter. F1fanatic should change to facebook ;).
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 19th September 2010, 11:30
There is a F1 Fanatic presence on Facebook but it’s forever being spammed by people:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6649076162&ref=ts
If anyone has any suggestions for what to do with it, please do. But so far I’ve only found it eats up time for next to no reward.
I don’t understand this hostility towards Twitter – there are far more genuine F1 accounts on there than there are on Facebook. It’s an incredibly useful resource for me.
thespuditron (@spud) said on 19th September 2010, 19:22
I’m more of a Facebook man myself but I do have a Twitter account.
None of my friends are on it but I do follow F1 drivers, local politicians, TV personalities, F1 Fanatics etc.
Twitter makes them seem more human if you know what I mean.
I find @AussieGrit’s tweets quite interesting and @_NedFlanders_’s tweets are amusin aswell.
I am a “fan” of your Facebook page Keith but I never look at it really.
I have your tweets coming to my mobile phone and F1 Fanatic is my home page so, no disrespect to you, but there isn’t really any point to the Facebook page.
mateuss said on 19th September 2010, 22:13
Twitter is far more superior. But more importantly I think FB and Twitter can not be compared because they serve different functions.
All Keith mentions is absolutely correct and important, but there is one more very important thing:
Twitter supports different apps and gadgets on all kinds of platforms, from smart phones to PCs.
So you can have a desktop gadget like this I have on Windows7
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7497/twitz.png
Its called ”tweetz” but there are many more, but what this means is that I can have up to the minute F1 news, updates, driver opinions and so on, AND I even don’t have to open my browser or log on to anything, as far as the computer is turned on I can just glance at it, and read that Lotus has signed a deal with Renault or whatever are the news of the moment.
LosD said on 20th September 2010, 0:13
No, both FB and Twitter could disappear from the face of the earth without anything important being lost…
gabal said on 20th September 2010, 9:49
Twitter is just a communication platform that really has its advantages.I was skeptical about it but after a discussion in comments here I decided to give it a try during Hungarian Grand Prix last year. Because of it I had good and reliable information of the medical condition of Felipe Massa which I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Maybe it is different for Brits as you have strong commentating presence on the track but Croatian television has 2 commentators who sit in the studio and comment on what they see on the screen.
Twitter is simply a way to have access into the hearth of the paddock I can’t get any other way.
Drivers have emraced is as well and you can really get more info of them which hasn’t been pre-processed by a PR department.
And it isn’t all about paddock gossip (sure, there is a bit of that too) but also F1 journalists with reputation who use twitter to deliver news first.
And that is just a F1 part of the twitter. Basically I consider it my personal forum where I can handpick every member of it. And they can include Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and others…
Oliver said on 19th September 2010, 10:07
Reading this reminded me to set up having @f1fanatic_co_uk for the twitter text messaging service. Now I will get all the latest news by text. Will never miss a thing!!
Osvaldas31 said on 19th September 2010, 10:16
Facebook is better, so i sugest you to expand your facebook fan base.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 19th September 2010, 11:23
From my experience Facebook is next to useless, and vastly more annoying to use.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 19th September 2010, 20:44
Here here. Twitter is infinitely more useful for getting quick bites of information and news. Facebook is fine to socialize with real people you know in the real world, but for something like F1 it’s too convoluted and complex. Twitter’s simplicity is its strength.
Katy (@katy) said on 21st September 2010, 15:59
I agree! Facebook is just for friends, it’s not useful at all for getting any kind of news or information! Not sure why people hate Twitter, it’d only be rubbish if you followed people that annoy you, so what’s the point. I just follow people and accounts that interest me, and I love it!
Jesus said on 19th September 2010, 11:22
Where can I see that HRT pit video? It’s been removed from YouTube…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 19th September 2010, 11:25
Yamamoto mechanic injured (Video)
chris sz said on 19th September 2010, 11:35
congrats Keith!
i wonder how long is it before you need to hire someone just to be able to keep up with all that is going on around F1f?
btw. how many F1f’s did you count sofar?
keep up the good work!
cyanide (@cyanide) said on 19th September 2010, 11:36
Or just follow F1Fanatic, Autosport and a couple more websites via RSS. As you can see, I hate twitter too :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 19th September 2010, 11:38
I use RSS too, but it’s slower than Twitter.
cyanide (@cyanide) said on 20th September 2010, 3:11
Twitter RSS feeds ftw! :D
gabal said on 20th September 2010, 9:52
I use RSS and I use twitter, they are completely different. RSS is for news delivery (headlines, links etc.). Twitter is all about conversation and real-time.
BasCB said on 19th September 2010, 13:15
Still not convinced, as i get so many pieces of information as is. It makes quit a job just to go through that.
But with all these drivers and team members as well as F1F there i am starting to warm to it.
Alex` said on 19th September 2010, 13:34
I fall in love with Twitter the day I bought my first smartphone. And the first twit I follow was f1fanatic :)
John said on 19th September 2010, 13:38
As soon as Twitter gets rid of the annoying URL Shortening, I might be more inclined to use it!
gabal said on 20th September 2010, 9:54
URL shorteners are necessary because of 140 charachter limit. However, there are clients which auto-expand links (Brizzly for example).
daykind said on 19th September 2010, 13:38
On the practice, qualifying and race live blogs on F1F, are the messages from the constructors on twitter?
cholle said on 19th September 2010, 14:34
Yeah, most of the teams (McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Virgin, Lotus, etc) are active on Twitter during the race and most of the race weekend.
sumedh said on 19th September 2010, 14:56
I think why people use facebook more than twitter is because facebook is more useful to stay in touch with friends rather than twitter.
Twitter is only useful to follow celebrities, and Keith, F1Fanatic is definitely a celebrity :) :)
And I agree with you, facebook for F1Fanatic is useless
Sutil.M said on 19th September 2010, 15:11
i dont have twitter and im not gonna sign up so sorry