This past week, we saw the digital spotlight turn predatory once again following a match where Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale worked a match with Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford on the February 25 episode of "AEW Dynamite", during which Ford was injured. Despite the on-the-spot physical complexities of a match, the immediate, abusive reaction from online appears to have led to Cameron leaving X. If this is true, the deactivation of her account is proof that while athletes of the pro-wrestling industry are digitally accessible on a regular basis, there needs to be more protection from the psychological toll that comes with it.
The anonymity given by the internet inspires some individuals to engage in disrespectful behavior, knowing their identity is not known. Being that wrestlers are constantly within reach through social media, they are vulnerable to harassment at any time of day or night. Beyond personal attacks on a wrestler's professional capability and character, examples of online harassment are racist or sexist remarks directed at their character or personal life, threats of violence or physical harm, personal attacks on the wrestler's appearance, family, or personal relationships, and doxing (revealing personal information). Groups of individuals can target wrestlers, engaging in organized campaigns of harassment and abuse.
Constant exposure to negativity can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. Online harassment can erode self-esteem and create feelings of failure. Wrestlers may withdraw from social interaction due to being sick of elecronic abuse. The constant stream of notifications and negative comments can disrupt sleep patterns. It's also important to keep in mind that the pressure to maintain an unrealistic and potentially perfect online image and respond to criticism can be incredibly stressful.
Every post, comment, and action is subject to public scrutiny and judgment, and is taken notice of the moment it's posted, and might even be screenshotted to be saved in order to use against the poster in the future. Meanwhile, they may feel that they have to be active on the internet in order to maintain relevance (because sometimes out of sight is out of mind in pro-wrestling when there is a lack of internet-based branding) and satisfy audience demands who follow them on social media. Adding to all of this pressure, minor mistakes or misinterpretations can be amplified and lead to calls for cancellation. However, I believe that it's not possible to cancel a top-tier professional wrestler over something like this, particularly once they have achieved main event status in a major company. Many major ones over the years have had a high tolerance for controversy, and a wrestler’s established value can outweigh public backlash, depending on what the backlash is regarding. Nonetheless, history shows that social media disasters can still significantly damage or even end careers depending on the severity, and mental toll doesn't care about their spot on the card- a main eventer can be mentally affected by online harassment as much as a midcarder can.
Some fans confuse a wrestler's character with the person behind it, directing attacks based on the wrestler's actions on TV and at shows. Or course, this is not a problem for some of the wrestlers who leverage the power of social media by blurring the lines between a work and a shoot, a narrative that I call, "kayfabe 2.0", which drives social engagement. These particular wrestlers maintain character online, so those reactions from fans add realism to the wrestler's persona, which is what they want if they are a heel. However, other wrestlers choose to separate their on-screen characters from their real-life identities, which makes negative feedback a challenge for them to cope with. When the character is attacked for something that they said or did as part of a storyline, it's business; but when the person behind the character is attacked, it's personal.
Wrestlers should set clear boundaries for their social media usage and limit their exposure to negativity. The block button is a beautiful thing, and haters are not worth replying to- blocking (or at least muting) abusive accounts can help to minimize exposure to harassment. Wrestlers should seek support from friends and family, and wrestlers promoting a positive and respectful cyber culture would benefit both themselves and their brothers and sisters in the industry. In addition, reporting instances of harassment and cyberbullying to social media platforms and law enforcement is essential.
Wrestling promotions can also be an asset in fighting online harassment. Along with providing resources and support for wrestlers who are victims and reminding fans that the wrestlers on the promotions' shows put their safety at risk for the entertainment of the audience, AI can be used in opposing online harassment of wrestlers. It can scan very large amounts of text, images, and videos on social media platforms, identifying and flagging possibly harmful content, using natural language processing (NLP) to understand the context and meaning of words, which allows it to detect sly forms of abuse that might be missed by human moderators. Some AI systems can even predict potential harassment before it happens by analyzing user behavior and recognizing patterns associated with abusive language, which allows platforms to take proactive steps to prevent harassment from increasing. These systems are now being used to hide abusive comments before the target sees them.
The negative impacts of social media on wrestlers' well-being are a serious concern. It would be beneficial to the wrestling industry for these challenges to be addressed and for steps to be taken to create a safer and more supportive web-based environment for its performers.
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