He has used 140 characters to cite authorities from Nietzsche and George Orwell to The Smiths, attracting admiration and ridicule on the way. But the tweeting days of Joey Barton may be over, as the Premier League footballer looks to expand his online persona.
The player's Twitter feed has attracted 1,381,336 followers since he joined the social media website last August – not to mention the attention of commentators far beyond the world of sport.
In 4,598 tweets, Barton, who plays for Queens Park Rangers, covered subjects from football to politics, philosophy, art and social justice. Then, just as abruptly as he had arrived, he quit the scene, announcing that he was taking "a little Twitter sabbatical before I say something I'll end up regretting".
A final sign-off – "Have a good few weeks people" – suggested that it was au revoir rather than goodbye, but all has been silence since.
However, this newspaper can reveal that, since his break, Barton has not been idle. Interviewed in Observer Magazine, he explains that he has been busy developing a website – provisionally entitled joeybarton.com. Describing the site as "almost a self-publication", Barton plans to blog, host video content and act as a "hub" in which people can engage with one another on a wide range of topics.
One of the biggest challenges he has faced on Twitter, he says, is that he has become a figurehead, with the result that users can "just go on and abuse you, not actually interact. And there's a lot of people out there who want to interact, but because of the sheer numbers of people it's sometimes difficult to see them."
His website, which he insists is "not a commercial enterprise" and will not feature ads, will marshall those visitors and help them to "find a space where they can start something".
Significantly, he's also keen to take control of the space in which he operates. "Obviously in 140 characters it is sometimes difficult to get your point across without being misconstrued," Barton explains, "because you've got to either shorten it, or you've got to put it in slang … it's not always the best way to get your idea across."
In the interview, he reveals how frequently he has felt misrepresented by the press during a career marked by controversies on and off the pitch.
An unashamedly volatile player, Barton gained notoriety in 2004 when he stubbed out a cigar in the eye of Manchester City colleague Jamie Tandy at the club's Christmas party. In 2007, he was involved in a violent confrontation with another City player, Ousmane Dabo, which saw him receive a four-month suspended sentence for actual bodily harm. In 2008, he spent 74 days in prison after being convicted of assault and affray following a fight in Liverpool. It was, he reveals, the low point from which he began to turn his life around.
At 29, Barton may be beginning to think about a life after football. He says that he has no idea whether his website will be successful, but insists that it will come from the heart: "I've no other way of doing things."
