Rude comments received by athletics stars on social media are unfortunately common.
Elina Lampela told about the dark side of social media in Paris. PASI LEISMA
At the Paris Olympics, Finnish athletics star Elina Lampela told Iltalehti about a disturbing phenomenon, which a recent study has unfortunately confirmed to be true.
The pole vaulter told Iltalehte in July that he receives a lot of offensive messages on social media.
– We comment on appearance and its type, Lampela described the content of the messages.
Collectively, the messages can be said to be harassing.
– I will feel disgusting, the athlete stated.
Lampela’s experiences are not unique.
In December, the International Association of Athletics Federations published the results of a study that examined the messages received by track and field athletes on social media.
The results were disappointing.
Artificial intelligence analyzed more than 1.4 million comments received by sports stars over the past few years. More than 2,400 athletes from various sports were the subject of the study.
The study revealed, for example, that at the time of the Tokyo Olympics, no less than 63 percent of the offensive messages that ended up in the investigations were directed at only two athletes who participated in the Games. 29 percent of the rude messages were sexist and 26 were racist.
At the Paris Games, two athletes received a whopping 82 percent of rude comments, some of which were racist, others sexist.
Based on the research, in addition to the written text, emojis were also harnessed for disturbing social media behavior.
The study found that there was a correlation between the athlete’s social media activity and the number of hate messages he received.
Lampela said in Paris that he would try to reduce the use of social media during the Games. He does not respond to contacts from people he does not know.
– They don’t affect my athleticism, and I don’t let them get under my skin.
After its research, the International Association of Athletics Federations ended up offering “year-round protection” on social media to those who receive the most offensive messages. In practice, this means harnessing artificial intelligence to pick up and delete offensive comments.