Social Media Backlash: Is it Always Warranted?

Every month, or perhaps every week, social media, particularly Twitter, seems to have something to complain about. Is it always warranted? Many people seem to believe that they are sticking up for the right thing when they use a certain hashtag or go on a rant on social media, but often times they are uninformed and are jumping to conclusions. Sometimes, people take things out of context or try to turn something harmless into an issue.

One example of social media backlash is the 2017 debacle regarding tennis players John McEnroe and Serena Williams. McEnroe praised Williams, calling her the “greatest female tennis player of all time”. However, when McEnroe was asked why he didn’t simply call her the “greatest tennis player of all time”, McEnroe stated that Williams would struggle to break the top 700 in men’s tennis. He received immediate backlash, primarily on Twitter. However, what many fail to consider is that gender was not the problem. Men’s and women’s tennis are different sports. It is not a question of Serena Williams’s gender but her skills. Who can gauge skills better than McEnroe, a tennis player and winner of multiple grand slam titles? Not the majority of Twitter. The people were quick with their backlash without thinking properly and attempted to twist McEnroe’s words into a much bigger issue than they really were.

A much more recent example of social media backlash occurred in February of this year. The brand Adidas released a new sneaker to celebrate Black History Month. People immediately took to Twitter to complain about how the shoe was all-white and therefore couldn’t possibly be celebrating Black History Month. The backlash grew so much that Adidas released a statement saying that they would pull the line. While the choice in color may have been a bit skeptical, was all the backlash really necessary? Social media is a powerful tool. There are hundreds of issues more important than a pair of white shoes. People saw something they didn’t like, took to Twitter, and forced Adidas to take it down, despite not knowing anything about the line or the idea behind it.

Yet another example of social media backlash happened in the summer of 2018 when it was announced that actor Ruby Rose would be playing the role of Batwoman on the CW. The character of Batwoman is a Jewish lesbian. Rose is also a lesbian but was chased off of Twitter for not being Jewish, despite the fact that she was very excited to take the role. Many people began insulting Rose for taking the role and her talent as an actor. Much of this was unwarranted. As important as it is to ensure proper representation in the media, Rose was simply doing her job as an actor, testing out new roles and challenging herself.

However, social media backlash is not always unwarranted. People can use it for legitimate reasons and try to spread the word about urgent issues and fix them. The problem arises when people search for something to be angry about rather than shedding light on more important, newsworthy issues. These days, people take to social media without a second thought. They attack and refuse to let up, running people off from Twitter. Free speech is important, especially to those living in the United States, but often the speech is just unnecessary and unkind. The obvious solution for those people is to educate themselves before spewing hateful messages out to others. No matter what one’s beliefs may be, it is always important to be educated before engaging in an argument.