Football Manager 2017 Features - The Social Media Hub

One of the highlights of the new features announced for Football Manager 2017 is the social media hub. When you finally get to crack open FM2017 you’ll find a new tab next to your inbox where you can see fans and clubs sharing news and opinion on the in game footballing world.

At first this may seem like just another thing to distract you from the nitty gritty of sorting out your tactics and transfers, anyone whose been moaning that press conferences are too repetitive and predictable, may wind up finding this equally frustrating. The first screenshot we have is rather bland, featuring repetitive hashtags (could funny hashtags take over from some of the hilarious newgen names we’ve seen in recent years?) and not a great deal of information to enhance your game.



But the next is a little bit more telling. Rather than receiving just one message about how the fans reacted to your previous match, you’ll now see a range of reactions. Maybe they’ll contradict each other, are the fans opinions torn? If they’re all full of praise you know you’re doing something right, but a few fans sitting on the fence may suggest you’ve got some issues to deal with, even if you did win that last game.



Now I’m sensing some of you still won’t sold on the social media aspect. Fan reactions are bound to get repetitive, and anyway, who needs to be reminded that a 2-0 defeat at Chesterfield was a poor result? But what if I told you that this new social media hub could help you in the transfer market?

One thing that’s very difficult to get to grips with in Football Manager is following what other teams are doing. Sometimes you don’t realise Chelsea are bidding £40 million on a player until it’s too late, he wasn’t on your shortlist, hell you’ve never even heard of him, but damn he looks good.

Well with the new social media tab you can see rumours from all the big names like Sky Sports and the BBC. Even if a bid hasn’t been tabled yet, you can see that everyone’s talking about Roy Wright, Scunthorpe’s new 7ft beast, and have a gander yourself. If you’re after a player but holding off on making a bid, you may be more inclined to once rumours start circulating, even if another team hasn’t come in with a formal offer yet. Or maybe a player wasn’t even on your radar because you didn’t think he was available, rumours start circulating he’s on his way out, why? Better keep tabs on him, send your chief scout for a look, add him to a shortlist. Never miss out again.



What’s more, if you are one of those people who’s annoyed by how much is going on in the world around them and hate the thought of this added fan interaction, you’re actually in luck! The new social media hub now becomes the home of all the fan feedback whether its transfers, match results or whatever, which means your actual inbox is more streamlined than ever. Hated that stuff before and dread the thought of more of it in FM2017? Fear not, it’s all separated nicely into a separate tab with its own subscriptions options, meaning you can dip in and out as you please.



Personally I think it’s a good addition. It’s not so overblown that it takes over every aspect of the game (imagine the days when a players twitter feed appears on his profile) but it’s there for those who’ve been crying out for it and can safely be ignored without affecting the rest of the game for those who don’t.

Good Job SI