Terrific or Toxic? – Sport and Social Media

Or can there be a middle ground, where the platform opens up communication between athletes and fans – or clubs and their members – without it all ending up spiralling down the plughole of nauseating abuse?

Former Wales international rugby wing Alex Cuthbert – a Grand Slam hero, no less - found some of the personal attacks launched his way in the aftermath of performances were so draining that he eventually left the country to join Exeter Chiefs.

It was not so much the direct effect on Cuthbert – who claimed he simply steered clear of the platforms – but the strains carried by his friends and family.

“I didn’t use to look at it, but then I’d get a friend asking me if everything was alright in a really concerned way,” says Cuthbert.

“Then, my family would hear about it and they would be worried about me and so I’d be worried about them. It just goes round and around and feeds itself, even if the person in the middle manages to avoid the direct hits.”

The official advice from governing bodies, clubs, and their various managers is not to rise to the bait, but as Anscombe admits that is easier said than done for sports people who are expected to be ruthlessly competitive and responsive in every other area of their chosen profession.

“It’s frustrating because you want to bite back at some people, but that gives them the reaction they want,” said Anscombe recently.

“If you try and put someone in their place, then the player is the one who gets crucified. Some people just want their two seconds of fame and so they try to come up with a smart tweet, but thankfully I’m a bit older now and a bit wiser, although there was certainly a time when it would weigh me down.”

The power of engaging social content was highlighted by Trefelin BGC when they tweeted footage of Swansea City legend Lee Trundle scoring in a recent veterans match. At the time of writing the film had been viewed more the 400,000 times.

As one Tweeter pointed out, companies can pay thousands of pounds for this sort of exposure.

One sport where social media use appears to have more upsides than down is netball, where players, clubs and fans of top level Vitality Superleague clubs seemingly use various platforms in a positive manner.

Wales stars like Nia Jones, a mainstay at the Celtic Dragons until her recent move to Seven Stars, regularly bring both personality and insight to her posts, such as a recent video of her pre-match warm-up routine.

Will Rees, Welsh Netball’s communications and marketing manager, says: “Social media is a huge marketing tool for us. I’d say about 75 per cent of our marketing is done through social media.

In male football, the Professional Footballers association (PFA) recently admitted they were seeing a reduction in the numbers of players using social media because of trolling, while the number of players accessing the PFA's counselling services rose to a record 643 in 2019, up almost 50% on the previous year.

The Bedwas donations have included pledges from Oman, Dubai, China, Germany and Australia as well as from celebratory donors like TV presenter Carol Vorderman.

Guiding the Bedwas online fundraising effort has been Will Rees, a keen supporter of the rugby club when he’s not marketing Welsh netball.

He says: “There was a lot pressure on the club straight away with people saying we need a crowd funding page and that other clubs were doing it already.

“I said, let’s hold our horses. We had to be really clear with people as to what’s happened, what’s the damage, and why we need the money. On social media you need a clear statement as to what has happened to make it clear for the lay-person. 

“We wanted to be really accountable for the money, too. It couldn’t be money that was going to be swallowed up by an overdraft.

“You also have to keep people regularly updated as to where the money is going. 

“That’s the effective thing in social media. It an ongoing, story-telling approach.”