Few causes polarize and fire up people like supporting their sports teams, no matter the sport. While the passion of supporting a team is strong, hatred often proves to be stronger. People are most vocal when it comes to the things they agree with – a truth that drives politics, advocacy groups, sports, and yes … even websites. One manifestation of this is the rise of the "anti-you" website explored in a recent issue of Sporting News magazine. As the author Deveney notes, "it seems a coach doesn’t matter until there is a fire-him website. Fans don’t boo or call radio talk shows anymore. Real fans start websites."
Hatred is a keen motivator for many forms of consumer generated media, including blogs, podcasts, websites – something that makes it tougher and tougher to screw things up quietly. What if your biggest opponent started an anti-you website? Me personally, I’d take it as a compliment. Unless, of course, it didn’t get any traffic …
