Leeds United youngsters missed their moment but social media is back and lessons must be learned after break

FOOTBALL on social media are back together, and hopefully all the better for a much-needed break.
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From a Leeds United point of view, there were pros and cons to this weekend's boycott of the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

In a rare bad day at the office for Marcelo Bielsa's Whites, the sooner that Saturday's Premier League defeat at Brighton is moved on from the better.

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But 48 hours later, the club's under-23s should have been bombarding their followers with celebratory pics and messages after getting their hands on the Premier League Two Division Two trophy.

BOYCOTT: On all forms of social media this weekend. Photo by DENIS CHARLET/AFP via Getty Images.BOYCOTT: On all forms of social media this weekend. Photo by DENIS CHARLET/AFP via Getty Images.
BOYCOTT: On all forms of social media this weekend. Photo by DENIS CHARLET/AFP via Getty Images.

Posts such as those were missed - and that's the whole point, because it's essential that the very reason for the boycott is remembered.

Social media can be brilliant at times such as Monday afternoon as captain Charlie Cresswell and his under-23s celebrated in the Thorp Arch rain after a truly stellar campaign.

But the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram can equally be horrible places to be when individuals are subjected to abuse, and often from anonymous/unverified accounts.

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There's no place for that. Not now, not ever and social media companies clearly need to do more.

But it kept on continuing until football and the Premier League quite rightly took a stand.

There will have been no online abuse suffered this weekend as nobody will have been online to see it and the YEP's footballing team joined the boycott too.

But as of one minute to midnight on Monday evening social media and football were back - but hopefully altogether better together than they were before.

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Thank you Laura Collins

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