One of the reasons that social media has become so popular in the sports (and entertainment) industry is because people get to know personal things about the players that they idolize on the field. People get to feel connected with these players like they never did before. Not only do they get to see intimate details about them but they also get to interact with them by responding to the players posts and tweets.
This all sounds like lots of fun and a great way to get fans to like player more. But to every great idea there is also some unthought of negative reactions. Because players are so much more easy to access they are also more easy to harass. They are used to people not being happy that they didn't complete a pass or get a touchdown or win the game, they've heard "boos" at the stadium. But social media takes this to a whole new level.
While reading the USA Today I found an article about how two soccer players (more known as football players anywhere outside of the US) were harassed online by a man named Michael Convery. Convery tweeted some very racist and threatening comments at the players. Blue Jays catcher JP Arencibia was also attacked by fans via Twitter.
Now I don't think that this is at all acceptable. When we play sports in our younger years we are taught that we need to be "good sports". That even though a game may not go the way that you wanted it go but that doesn't mean that you get to go and harass and attack the other player. And even if you do well you still don't have the right to go and brutally rub it in the face of your opponent. I think that all of these tweets are going to harm all of those lessons that we try to teach our youth.
Any other thoughts?
Here are links to some of the articles:
Twitter Jays : Arencibia Under Attack #jays
