Twitter is one of those social media platforms that actually captures the essence of both words. It’s inherently social, with celebrities, journalists and the great unwashed mingling about in a jamboree of uncensored (and sometimes unreadable) chit-chat. But it can also be a useful media tool, with users providing their followers with up-to-the-minute news links, personal photos, and anything else that may or may not swim upstream in the torrent of tweets.

Football, a global game on a 24 hours news cycle with millions, if not billions, of fans, has taken to Twitter like no other sport. Supporters, journalists, and even players have jumped on board to give their 140-character opinions on the game, over and over and over again. Interest from the latter group—footballers—in the social media platform though has proved  controversial, and the latest headline on Darron Gibson’s brief dalliance with life on Twitter is the most recent chapter in a long string of player/Twitter incidents. Apparently Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) encouraged Gibson to start a Twitter account yesterday, and a mere two hours later it was shut down after Gibson endured a torrent of abuse from supporters for his performances in a United shirt. One Tweeter wrote, “the biggest compliment i can give you is that you are better than [Manchester United teammate Michael] Carrick.”

It would be safe to say that, despite their numerous followers, players don’t generally add much to the Twitter mix, or even a unique insight into the game. Footballers use the accounts to pile on one banal sentiment after another, generally avoiding controversy (one wonders if players and PR flacks are entering these Tweets at all). For example Wayne Rooney, who recently joined Twitter as @wazzaroon08, has offered up interesting tidbits like “Hi tweeps gonna go sleep now massive night tomorrow. Goodnight tweeps.” (Rooney has over two hundred thousand followers, by the way).

Still, these accounts are intensely monitored by tabloid journalists and fans alike for any and all slip ups, and there’ve been a few on occasion. Players like Glen Johnson and Ryan Babel have both run afoul of the media with Tweets critical of fans and refs respectively.  But Gibson’s quick hop on and off the Twitter bandwagon was a first. Perhaps playing on the robotically diplomatic nature of most player accounts, fans felt free to openly trash the underperforming United player via the @ reply function, with little consideration for Gibson’s feelings. It’s not hard to blame the Irish midfielder for remaining within the cloistered security perimeter enjoyed by most modern footballers, and Twitter is certainly not the worse off for his absence. But his treatment underlines the faux-connectivity offered by social media when it comes to the driving force in football: the players themselves.

Despite media hype over the slightest deviation from the boring player Twitter account norm, social media has failed to provide a truly revealing window into the weird, insular lives of modern footballers that many supporters crave. Unlike journalists, who enjoy a smaller profile and rely on loyal readers for their livelihood, players have little reason to interact with fans in a meaningful way. There are exceptions; ‘nomadic’ former TFC striker Rohan Ricketts regularly participates in Twitter exchanges, using the medium as intended. But most players use it as texting service to nowhere, expecting their fans to hang on their every word, no matter how mundane. Gibson’s Twitter abuse in part reflects a built-up frustration with the unaccountability of modern footballers, and the false accountability and connectivity of Twitter. For fans, Gibson on Twitter isn’t a player, and isn’t even human, just an icon to be made fun of. Most other players fall in the same camp, a mere subject of sarcastic retweets and nothing more. It will take something more than social media to lift the curtain on the increasingly reclusive lives of Europe’s football stars.