Column: 95,000 fans, 140 characters
Talking Reds columnist Kate Cohen describes seeing Liverpool in her home country of Australia last week and examines how the club is interacting with its global fanbase.
Oh, the joys of Twitter.
Today, people have become particularly skilled at expressing themselves with a meagre 140 characters. Twitter, and other social media forms (such as Facebook and Instagram), have become essential tools in allowing football fans all over the world to access information, but more importantly, to connect.
However, despite Twitter's best efforts, no amount of virtual connection can match the physical connections felt when watching Liverpool FC - live and in the flesh. Which is why, for the millions of Liverpool fans outside of Europe, the pre-season tour is so important.
In a recent interview with the Australian Financial Review, managing director Ian Ayre acknowledged the role of social media in today's fan experience. Liverpool have stepped up their efforts to access fans via social media - allowing the club to join in and shape the conversation with fans around the world, as well as pleasing the millions of supporters with an insatiable appetite for LFC content.
Across different social media platforms, Liverpool have more than 12 million 'likes' on Facebook, nearly 1.3 million followers on Pinterest, 640,000 fans on Weibo and a growing community of followers on Instagram (nearly 150,000).
The club has also stepped up their involvement in Twitter, with more than 1.8million followers on the main Twitter account. They have also expanded their network of accounts, adding 16 international and local-language accounts which bring the total number of LFC followers to more than two million.
These accounts have allowed the club to engage with overseas fans, producing 'localised content' in their local language (as well as the obligatory training photographs and player interviews) and strengthen the relationship with those supporters.
In order to increase the international reach of the club, Liverpool have added an Indonesian Facebook, with Ayre saying in his interview with the AFR: "We found about 95 per cent of people were only accessing in Bahasa Indonesia. So we were not available to those people with just an English-language Facebook page."
Of course, such measures have commercial benefits for the club too: "The longer-term strategy is you engage with those people and then draw them into a richer relationship, and then down the track they want more access to product," Ayre stated to the AFR.
All this is fantastic, and certainly adds to the fan experience, but it cannot match the experience of singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' as Steven Gerrard leads the players walk out onto the Anfield turf.
Unfortunately for many fans, going to Anfield remains on the bucket list: the cost of travel, accommodation and tickets is too great.
That is where the importance of the pre-season tour comes in. For a lucky percentage of fans, this is their opportunity to watch Liverpool live.
This year's pre-season tour saw Liverpool travel to Jakarta (Indonesia), Melbourne (Australia) and Bangkok (Thailand), and for more than 220,000 Reds - many of whom were witnessing Liverpool for the first time in the flesh - it was an occasion to remember.
From a personal perspective, the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, against Melbourne Victory, was just my second time watching Liverpool live and, while the match itself can't compare with a competitive fixture, the experience was one to remember.
Liverpool supporters from all over the country assembled at Federation Square pre-match, before embarking on a spectacular march to the ground. Then a spine-tingling rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' sung by 95,000 Reds. It was truly memorable.
Some may be surprised with the level of support around the world for Liverpool, but they shouldn't be. Liverpool FC is a truly global club, with passionate and dedicated fans.
Those fans in Jakarta, Melbourne and Bangkok proved it, and on the rare occasion of Liverpool coming to their doorstep (or, as is the case for Aussie fans, the very, very rare occasion), cities were transformed into a sea of Red.
I'm sure there are similarly dedicated fans from all over the world who are crossing their fingers, hoping the next pre-season tour might be their chance to see Liverpool live, just like Indonesian, Australian and Thai Reds this year.
Follow the author @kate_lfc_sfc.
Global LFC: Liverpool's international platforms in full
Websites
Thailand: http://thailand.liverpoolfc.com/
Indonesia: http://indonesia.liverpoolfc.com/
Tour: http://www.lfctour.com/
Facebook
Indonesia: https://www.facebook.com/IndonesiaLFC
Thailand: https://www.facebook.com/thailandLiverpoolfc
India: https://www.facebook.com/IndiaLFC
Brazil: https://www.facebook.com/BrasilLFC
Australia: https://www.facebook.com/AustraliaLFC
Twitter
Indonesia: @officialLFC_ID
Thailand: @ThaiLFC
Arabic: @LFC_Arabic
Spanish: @LFCEspanol
Portuguese: @LFCBrasil
Australia: @LFCANZ
Turkish: @TurkeyLFC
India: @LFCIndia
Malaysia: @MalaysiaLFC
South Africa: @SouthAfricaLFC
French: @LFCFrance
Bangladesh: @LFCBangladesh
Pakistan: @PakistanLFC
Greece: @GreeceLFC
Norway: @LFCNorwegian
Korea: @LFCKorea
China
Sina Weibo: http://e.weibo.com/liverpoolfc
Tencent: http://e.t.qq.com/liverpoolfc