Manchester United football club has today posted a message on its website, stating that its players do not belong to online social networks and advises social media users to treat any profiles in the names of its players with ‘extreme scepticism’.

Why? Because of the ‘high numbers of people impersonating team members online’.

Of course, imitating celebrities and sports personalities on social media platforms, such as Twitter, is old news. It’s been going on since social media exploded back in the mid-noughties. That’s why Twitter had to eventually add ‘Verified Accounts’ – something that the real celebs could use to avoid impersonators, damaging their reputation.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that there are lots of accounts across social network sites which also claim to be in the name of high profile footballers. But for those that are real, perhaps it’s easy to understand why football clubs might look unfavourably on social networking and advise players against participating online.

Take, for instance, Sunderland striker Darren Bent. He caused controversy last year after using Twitter to rant about transfer negotiations with Tottenham, his former club.

In Manchester United’s case, they haven’t officially claimed that players are banned from social networking, but it makes you wonder when some of its top players – who were known to use Twitter – no longer have accounts. The fact that Manchester United has posted this message does make me wonder – perhaps their players really aren’t allowed to tweet, minimising the risk of leaking any sensitive information.

If this is the case, it seems short-sighted of Manchester United because Twitter is just another platform for its club and players to converse with its supporters. Twitter isn’t the problem. It’s more about understanding social networking as a new medium for the club to communicate through. Perhaps some strict guidelines on tweeting would therefore be more suitable because social media is around to stay – and sticking heads in the football pitch to avoid something that won’t go away really isn’t the answer!