Whereas YouTube and Twitter amplify rants, club forums offer kinship, humour and a place to open up to like-minded people
By Jem Stone for WSC, part of the Sport Network
Earlier this year a Brighton fan who uses the pseudonym Last Summer posted to the web forum North Stand Chat. It was one of the 50 or so new discussions started on there by a supporter every day and one of hundreds of posts he had contributed over the last decade. “Apologies for the Mumsnet-type thread,” he began as he calmly explained that he and his wife had split up after 14 years together and he was in need of advice from fellow fans. “Hurts like hell at the moment and the thought of now having to live my life without her is destroying me,” he wrote, before adding: “There’s loads of advice and stuff online that I could Google – but they ain’t Brighton.”
And he was right. Over the next few days dozens of men – and it was all men – took the opportunity to publish at length, and in many private messages, about how they had coped after going through a divorce. Some posters shared practical financial advice, tips on maintaining relationships with their children and how to avoid conflict with a former partner. But most, perhaps encouraged by the support that was forthcoming and the friendly environment, were confident enough to share intimate and honest details about how they felt and how their mental health had been affected then and now. The original poster came back online later to thank the contributors to the thread.
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