RevSportz Comment
On Tuesday, there was a news item on the BBC Sport website with the headline: Chelsea condemn homophobic abuse of Kerr and Mewis. It was in reference to an Instagram post put out by Sam Kerr, star Chelsea and Australia footballer, announcing that she and her partner, Kristie Mewis, were expecting their first child.
Now, here’s the thing. If you go to Kerr’s Instagram page — she has over 1.7 million followers — you’ll find that the vast majority of comments below the post are congratulatory in nature, wishing the couple all the very best. Yes, there are negative and even downright nasty remarks, but all they do is betray the posters’ lack of human qualities like empathy and also their ignorance of biology in the 21st century.
But the point is this — those comments are very much the exception and not the rule. So, why then is the football club and the mainstream media giving such idiots attention? Remember that for such clowns, attention is their oxygen. Without it, they’ll shrivel up in some corner and die like the pathetic people they are.
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And this is not restricted to Kerr’s post alone. When a Virat Kohli posts a family picture, for example, there will invariably be a headline the following day about comments targetting his partner or his child. Why? Why do we play up statements made by complete morons? More than 90 per cent of those with something to say would never dream of abusing a revered athlete or his spouse, much less a toddler. But by ignoring those sentiments and highlighting the worst of humanity, all we do is play into the hands of the scum.
It’s all very well to say social media platforms should shut down abuse. If AI-based algorithms prove to be effective in doing that, great. But that’s just one part of the story. The second step has to come from us. Just ignore the idiots. Don’t put out statements on behalf of a club or a national team. Don’t highlight their idiocy on media platforms. Unless the abuse comes from someone with power and influence, like a head of state — and sadly, there are enough clowns in positions of power across the world — the best option is always to shoulder arms.
Ultimately, what a troll wants, or rather craves, is attention. Deprive him — and it’s almost always a him, rather than a her — of that and he will feel like the waste of space and oxygen that he is. Absolute indifference is what will kill them off. So, the next time you see such a comment, just ignore and block. Move on. Nothing to see there.
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