[Mehtab Ahmed]

Hey guys,

Does anyone know why FOM still does not have any official Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any Social Media page running?
The ACO with WEC has one, NASCAR has one, the IndyCars, MotoGP, FIFA, UFC, NBA, NFL, NHL and ect.

Do you think it could be useful to have Social Media as a platform for F1? What are your opinions?

I think it would be quite useful as it could connect more people to F1 and keep them up to date with exclusive news, features etc.
I hope the Live Timing App is a start and they get something rolling soon.

[andae23]

FOM has been very good at ignoring social media and internet. Ecclestone said something like ‘social media will blow over eventually’.

It won’t. I get it, you get it. The only one who doesn’t get it is the 83-year-old man who is in control of F1. Investing in social media would be a fantastic way for F1 to reach a new audience. Also, setting up an on-demand website for classic F1 races would be booming business. They have a gold mind in old videos and in potential, but they don’t seem to be doing anything with it.

I thought this piece hit the nail on the head: http://thejudge13.com/2014/08/04/voice-of-the-f1-fans-socially-inept-f1/

[Girts]

I think that part of Ecclestone’s strategy to keep F1 popular (and make money for himself and his employers) is to keep it unreachable, namely, to make people long for it. F1 is something exclusive; if you want to get close to it (or even watch it live), you will have to pay. If you want to be a part of it, it will cost you millions. This strategy has worked for a long time as fans, circuits, sponsors and governments have kept spending their money on F1. YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are for free, accessible for everyone and would bring the sport closer to its fans, which is not what Ecclestone wants. After all, F1 is popular on social networks anyway – just look at the number of illegally uploaded videos on YouTube and trending hashtags (like #BernieEcclestone yesterday) on Twitter…

However, this strategy is risky, too. The world is everchanging and falling spectator numbers are already ringing alarm bells. Moreover, as @andae23 says, there are a few things that F1 could SELL and earn even MORE money, yet they are not doing that. Perhaps Ecclestone believes that things like double points will attract new spectators and everything else can stay as it is but I would not be so sure about it.

[Mehtab Ahmed]

I agree with both of your comments.

It is just a shame that FOM does not utilize the sleeping potential they got with social media.
As @andae23 said, MotoGP for example has a youtube page where people can watch some classic races, just imagine what kind of potential Formula 1 had with such a youtube channel, they surely have the money and manpower to run it.
But as I said the new App may be a first step in the right direction. I really do hope they do something clever and don’t mess up.

[David Not Coulthard]

I think accounts on twitter, facebook, etc would just be useless commercial exercise. Though if they want to try to prove otherwise (yes, I do realise it won’t happen) they always can.

Live streaming, on the other hand……..

[pH]

I am not sure social media is crucial (though it would help). I can see a much bigger impact if they ease up on copyright restrictions, like if they stop hunting videos on YouTube, make more footage available etc. But even that is, IMHO, just secondary. I think the main problem is elsewhere.

When I was growing up in the 1980’s, we were technology minded. Many of us made flying models, many of us made our own weapons for play (crossbows, swords and such), quite a few boys also enjoyed putting together various electric contraptions. And of course, most classmates were heavily into cars. They knew what kind of engine one would find in this or that car, they were interested in new models of various makers, they wanted to drive them not to get somewhere, but to interact with this technology. Races were thus a natural interest and Formula 1 was the top. Our generation could relate to F1 in many ways, it wasn’t just the glamour and thrilling races (thrill being supplied most often by acccidents).

Today’s generation is into technology as well, but of different kind: They are putting together web pages, programming games for mobiles, or just spending their time in front of the screen playing games. For many of them, car is just a tool to get from point A to point B. Formula 1 has pretty much no connection to this world. While it is true that for this new generation, social media are the preferred channel of communication, first you actually have to somehow make them interested in F1 so that they have reason to join the F1 social media (if there were any). I think this is the core problem and I offer no advice how to face it.

[Anonymous]

I get the feeling that patrolling an FOM facebook and twitter would be a massive and time-consuming task – can you imagine the storm of comments they would get on double points, standing restarts, Tilke-dromes, engine noise, etc? It’s the same reason NHS England doesn’t have a facebook – they would be ripped to pieces on a daily basis.

[Author]

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