There have been many incidents where Twitter Q&A’s have been hijacked by opposing fans and trolls.  The most recent case was when Michael Carrick was placed in front of the computer screen by the Manchester United digital team.  What didn’t go right was that United had a poor weekend, with Carrick having an off day, and the Q&A took place on the Monday after.

What happened next was thousands of fans using the #AskCarrick hashtag to have a dig, take the piss and generally abuse him as much as possible (though some were very witty).  It also happened to Newcastle with their #AskTayls Q&A around the same time. So why do they do it?

It’s done because it is cheap, easy to run and you have access to everyone.  The downside is that you lose control of the message and it can be quickly picked up by the national press, thus blowing the situation up even more.  The Man Utd one was reported in the Mirror, Metro, Bleacher Report and many more.

I think what we are seeing now is teams, federations and brands looking to minimise the risk.  Everton this week hosted a Google+ hangout, this gives the club more control as they select those who are to take and the rest watch.  It still generates fan engagement but allows for more control.

At the end of last year Chelsea held a live video Q&A with Cesar Azqiliceuta, Juan Mata and Fernando Torres on their Facebook page.  It was the first instance of a club using Facebook in this way and hosting a live video feed in a Facebook timeline.  It managed to duck under the radar somewhat as it was held in the days running up to Christmas but attracted a total of 2m views, with 300k watching it live.

Chelsea do still hold monthly Q&A’s on Twitter with various players, the latest being with Brazilian midfielder Oscar.  The interesting note here is that since they changed the hashtag from being #AskOscar (for example) to a more generic club one, #cfcqa, they have seen much better questions coming in.

Another way in which a player can be seen as being closer to the fans through club accounts is on Instagram.  Wayne Rooney last week took over the Official account for the club and posted 5 of his favourite photo’s from his 10 years at the club.  I know this doesn’t give us direct access to one of football’s biggest stars but it allows for them to share some of their experiences with the fans.

So where does this leave the Twitter Q&A?  There are so many examples of them being hijacked (just ask Santi Corzola and Tottenham Hotspur) that I don’t think we shall see many more for the time being.  The platform is too open and football is a passionate sport to say the least amongst the fans.

For other sports there is no reason why to not run them.  In my time I have run ones with tennis stars such as Ana Ivanovic and Fernando Verdasco, as well as during the ICC Champions Trophy last year with ‘Bumble’ and Shane Warne.  These went really well and fans were very positive.  It would be a shame for them to disappear completely but I think in Premier League football we are seeing the end to clubs flirtation with the concept.

If there becomes a way in which Twitter can enable more control to be had over the trolling, which many sports stars are pushing for after high profile cases this year alone with Stan Collymore, Ellie Christie and Clare Balding.  Then we may see a return to a method that many love but some abuse.