The experience of living in, working and presenting shows in the world of the Arsenal fan base is an experience that can only be described as a unique one. The rollercoaster journey the club itself travels on in turn affects the feedback from week to week.
Yet passion runs as the overriding emotion and characteristic that can be attached to Arsenal's supporters. Evident in their overwhelmingly positive support away from home but also in the level of vitriolic response and meltdowns across social media in reaction to poor results.
Before social media existed, how supporters of different clubs would interact with one another was the main source of discrepancy from a fan perspective. You defended your club and debated into the late hours about how your team, in my case Arsenal, was greater than the Manchester Uniteds, Tottenhams and Chelseas of this world.
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Now, things have changed. Arsenal fans are at each other’s throats on social media. A tribal division has been built up, born during the second half of Arsene Wenger’s tenure. There were ‘Wenger ins’ and ‘Wenger outs.’
You could hardly move without feeling pressured onto a side and once you were there, that was it. This dynamic has persisted and fast-forward to 2022 and Mikel Arteta’s reign has seen it return. The online Arsenal fan base is rife with clashes of unchecked, merciless and abusive back and fourths never coming to a harmonious conclusion.
Providing a brief insight into my own experiences. As someone who has given their backing to Mikel Arteta this season, this, unintentionally, puts me into a category. The ‘Arteta in’ group. It is not a label I wanted, nor would even attribute myself to.
Beyond anything, I am ‘Arsenal in’ and not defined by my position on our club's manager. The club comes first, and therefore when Arteta’s mistakes caused the defeat against Brighton I, like any objective person, criticised those decisions.
Yet, because of this categorisation suddenly you come under intense and frequent scrutiny and in some cases, abuse, simply for going against what is assumed to be the lane you’ve been squeezed into. Alternatively, if you defend Arteta in a moment where it might be contentious to do so, an equal amount of retort and, again, abuse is directed your way from those that are staunchly ‘Arteta out.’
Changing your mind based upon new evidence in matches, the transfer market or other occurrences in the sport has become almost a form of blasphemy it seems. The label ‘flip flop’ is a common and ridiculous taunt thrown about. Perhaps because one side cannot fathom someone belonging to the other either criticising or praising the coach – dependent upon the childish labelling. A panicked response as to avoid having anything in common with their perceived adversary.
The Arsenal online fandom has regressed to a place where it is rare to find reasoned discussion. There are thankfully places this can still be found but it requires plenty of policing and, as with any online forum, a thick skin and maturity. Although finding these can be a challenge in itself.
At a time when Arsenal needs its supporters to be united, we find ourselves again losing that positive and defiant spirit that had built up throughout the course of this season into a surprise top-four race. Being critical is part of the game and a great piece of what makes this the sport we love, but there is a fine line between when this crosses over into the abuse that has become malignant in our community. It is time to change and engage in a different way.
