Manchester United fans have launched a campaign to protest against the poor running of the club by unfollowing them on Twitter.
United's recent draw with Huddersfield meant the club lost all hope of qualifying for the Champions League ahead of next season, following a campaign in which they have endured an all too familiar third season meltdown from Jose Mourinho and a downward-trending tenure under his replacement Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
They have thus decided to start a campaign of their own, whereby they unfollow the club's account on Twitter to highlight their displeasure with how the club is performing both off and on the pitch.
We aren’t a social media experiment. We aren’t an advertising agency.
— The Man Utd Way (@TheManUtdWay) May 6, 2019
We want to see @ManUtd return to the football club we once were and if tourists won’t stop going to Old Trafford, make your voices heard on here. I’ve been asked to help back the hashtag. #UnfollowManUnited
The movement was kickstarted in earnest by a Twitter user named 'The Man Utd Way', who wrote in a tweet: "We aren't a social media experiment. We aren't an advertising agency.
"We want to see @ManUtd return to the football club we once were and if tourists won’t stop going to Old Trafford, make your voices heard on here. I’ve been asked to help back the hashtag. #UnfollowManUnited."
By way of illustrating the club's downfall, he also posted a picture of the Red Devils' Instagram, where they were using an image from the ignominious stalemate with the Terriers to advertise some cut-price socks on their online store.
According to one user who has been monitoring the movement, around 75,000 supporters - or the full capacity of Old Trafford - have already backed the campaign, while another proclaimed: "Yes I did join the unfollow train. We need to let them know they can't be messing us up like that. It's a sign of protest."
Naturally, it was started from a place of hatred towards chief executive Ed Woodward, with The Man Utd Way justifying his cause by explaining: "Ed Woodward has constantly used our social media presence to display our success as being one of sports biggest clubs.
"They use that against us. If you can’t give up tickets or stop buying merchandise, unfollow them - all they tweet about is the past anyway!"
A move to leave the clash against Cardiff City at Old Trafford on Sunday seven minutes early - representing the seven years Woodward has been at the helm - has been also mooted.
How successful this campaign will be is anyone's guess - with 19.2m people still following them, there's a long way to go - but one thing's for sure: it's a protest.
Source : 90min