Social media blackout actually hurt women's rugby
Picture this, it’s Tuesday morning, you turn your phone back on after a weekend of boycotting social media and what a shock, nothing has changed. Trolls are still rife on the internet, seemingly unharmed by the actions of thousands of sports fans.
Two weekends ago individuals were encouraged to boycott all social media platforms in an attempt to show solidarity against abuse and discrimination online.
The main aim of this protest was to encourage social media companies to take a stronger stance against racist and sexist abuse by users. In women’s rugby, we get our fair share of this so I can understand why the community was so keen to show support and get involved. However, I have mixed feelings towards this.
This boycott was clearly well-intentioned, but when evaluated against the context of the growth and development of the women’s game I would argue that this silence came at a cost.
Ironically, when Twitter descended into darkness, so did the England V France game. As England’s Bryony Cleall crashed the ball into contact with sixty-two minutes left on the clock, the stadium descended into full darkness. Disappointingly, a full pitch wide blackout left the game abandoned.
The worst part about it all? The game was incredible, it had everything a rugby fan could dream of, high tempo, brutal physicality, and a truck load of intensity. Proper edge of your seat stuff.
Following the controversial end to what was a genuinely exciting game, I looked down at my Twitter feed, expecting to get stuck into a flood of comments and conversations; to see nothing.
The silence was deafening, in all the wrong ways.
Something massive had happened in the women’s game, and the fans had no opportunity to discuss it. If I was hesitant about the social media blackout before, now in amongst a full pitch blackout, I was fuming.
We want to see change on social media. We will continue to call for action alongside all of the fans, teams, players and governing bodies who supported this weekend’s boycott. #StopOnlineAbuse pic.twitter.com/FSkcODAxAt
— Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) May 4, 2021
To be clear, I am not criticizing people for taking part in the campaign. I am, however, questioning its overall effectiveness. To make change, and I mean real long-lasting change, meaningful action must be taken. Surely by going silent for three days on social media, whilst an absolute corker of a women’s match is being played is doing the complete opposite?
The uncomfortable question you must ask yourself is who are you doing it for? Who truly benefited from the silence? Women’s sport, and specifically women’s rugby can not afford to go quiet. We do not have the luxury of a fully developed fan base. Each match is a constant battle to gain increased and consistent viewership to grow the game, and social media’s role in this cannot be underestimated.
Various platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok have proven to be essential drivers of change in women’s sport. The fact that my whole Twitter feed was silent when one of the juiciest things in women’s rugby had happened was just astounding.
A recent study by the Women’s Sport Trust found that over 50 per cent of women’s sport fans use social media to follow the sport. Meaning half the fans consume content digitally via social media, so what exactly do you gain from shrinking an already small audience and depriving them of the opportunity to engage with the sport?
To those who say the game was still available to stream on BBC iPlayer I would argue that yes, the game was still available to watch, however its full impact was not felt. Moreover, the game was once again difficult for sports fans to locate on the streaming service. Something that had been a reoccurring issue throughout the Six Nations Tournament.
I am not alone in my thoughts as world cup winner, Tamara Taylor, sums up the argument perfectly in her tweet below:
#StopOnlineAbuse pic.twitter.com/XssHi2LzkC
— Tamara Taylor (@Timmytammy8) April 30, 2021
Other organisations such as Happiness Is Egg Shaped also decided not to take part in the social media boycott:
?
Happiness is Egg Shaped pic.twitter.com/q4D24dAWVI
— Happiness is Egg Shaped (@happyeggshaped) April 29, 2021
No one should be subjected to online trolling; it is vile, and something I would not wish upon anyone. I am in full agreement that action needs to be taken to tackle the problem, however the course of action that was taken in this instance should have been different.
We need to come together as a sporting community, just as we did on the weekend, to actively shout about these issues, thus putting pressure upon social media platforms to directly tackle the problem in a positive and strategic way. More importantly, this needs to be done in a way that is not detrimental to the development of women’s rugby, or in fact any other women’s sport.
The momentum of this campaign cannot be understated, it was felt on a huge scale. The challenge now will be to transfer this energy into perhaps a more positive direction to implement long lasting change.
To do so, online abuse needs to be met head on. On a small scale, individuals can actively report and block accounts. Looking at larger scale action, an open letter to social media platforms such as Twitter would be a starting point. If we can capture the energy that was exhibited this weekend in the right way, imagine what could be done.
Above all, the women’s rugby community needs to keep talking, we must continue to be vocal about our sport and showcase the real talent that we, and the wider sporting community, have to offer.
Unfortunately, trolling is all too common in the sporting world, especially when it comes to women’s sports. However, becoming quiet and abstaining from talking about the sport you love is not how you beat the bully; it only serves to give them more power. In fact, I would argue that being silent is one of the worst things you can do.
Growing up, I was always taught to stand up for what I believe in, even if it meant going against the crowd. So, on this occasion, that is exactly what I will be doing. I will continue talking, writing, and shouting about women’s rugby, because eventually the right side will win. Silence is not, and never is, the answer.
Comments on RugbyPass
Christie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
44 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
5 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
44 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
44 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to commentsBut here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.
44 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
44 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to comments