Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

Social media blackout actually hurt women's rugby

By Stella Mills
Scotland v Wales – Guinness Women’s Six Nations – Scotstoun Stadium

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

Video Spacer

Andy, Jim, Fez and Shanks react to the 2021 Lions squad:

Video Spacer

Andy, Jim, Fez and Shanks react to the 2021 Lions squad:

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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:

Other organisations such as Happiness Is Egg Shaped also decided not to take part in the social media boycott:

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This 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 comments
j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But 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 comments
TRENDING
TRENDING England No8 Sarah Beckett banned after leg-breaking croc roll tackle England No8 Sarah Beckett banned after leg-breaking croc roll tackle
Search