The Only Constant is Change

Last month came the, perhaps surprising, announcement that the WSL had signed a two year deal with Facebook, ensuring that the social media platform would have sole rights to the all live event streams. And what an announcement to make. As with everything new, the response (according to Instagram) was not too favourable. There were hundreds of comments, including many direct questions for the WSL. I added my own, and was looking forward to seeing the answer.

In this current age of social media-ness, I found it astounding that there was no one monitoring the WSL’s social media accounts – there was no one replying to these honest fans’ questions. Erm, if you’re going to post something so huge on social media, should you not have one or two people queued up, waiting for instant reactions? I appreciate that there is a time difference, and that everyone needs their beauty sleep, but isn’t there a clue in the name? WORLD Surf League.

Receiving no reply to my genuine question, I went old school and sent the WSL an email. I explained that I have been loving watching live surf events for (cough) a good couple of decades now, and that I wasn’t alone. I just really wanted to know if I would still be able to watch the live streaming on the WSL app, as I am not a fan of Facebook. I did get a reply. And after wading through the wishy washyness of ‘we can’t please everyone’, I got to the actual answer. Yes, I would be able to watch the streaming on the app (hooray), but the Facebook thing will be their main focus, and will receive all the improvements, and eventually the events will only be on that platform. Hmph, #grumpyface.

Since then I’ve been thinking about this announcement. Many moons ago, I worked for a large international bank, who was undergoing a massive shake up of its HR department, and the staff who had been employees since they left school did not like these changes one little bit. The negativity was quite incredible. As a newbie, I didn’t see what the big fuss was about. Well, yes, it meant some people might lose their jobs, but aside from that, the whole processes was going to become significantly more streamlined, quicker, slicker. The bank even had a slogan in an attempt to appease the grizzled veterans - ‘Change is good’. You can probably imagine how that went down!

Anyway, my point is that perhaps I am the grizzled employee, happy plodding along the same way I have done for years, without questioning anything, and without making my working life easier and better. And yes, I am comparing the WSL to one of the world’s largest banks, I’m not totally blinkered, it is a business after all. But maybe these recent changes will be a good thing. Only time will tell. For us and for the WSL. One thing’s for sure though, I am definitely going to keep watching the events on the app for as long as possible, I don’t want to just be another statistic, and boost the Facebook ratings.

Change is good. But only when it suits me.