“Whether you liked the program, whether you liked the skater, whether you liked the costume, verbal abuse on social media should not be tolerated.” Olivia Smart about bullying on social media.
Olivia Smart about bullying on social media.
original source: Instagram
Spanish ice dancer Olivia Smart has recorded a video and has spoken out about bullying on social media.
“Hi everybody! So we have just finished our first competition of the season. Just wanted to say thank you for all the support. The first competition of the season is usually the toughest one or one of the toughest ones because it’s the first time you’re showing your new material, your new programs, new choreography. We appreciate these competitions a lot because we get a lot of feedback from the judges and people at the competitions, as many people from the ISU are here, so we get direct feedback from the professionals. But of course, we appreciate everybody’s feedback – from the people in the crowd, the people online. And a reminder, this is a spectator performance sport, so we’re performing for you guys and ourselves, of course. And one of the reasons why I wasn’t able to step away from the sport was because of that performance feeling. Nothing compares to going on and competing in front of a crowd. That’s why I create and that’s why I’m still able and so grateful to be able to do this today with Tim.
Long story short, I’m addressing something people don’t usually address because one – what’s the point; two – it’s a little scary; and three – I don’t want to look like a bad person. But there are some people online who really have an opinion. You can have your favorite team, you can have your favorite program, you can have your favorite costume – absolutely, that’s what our sport is about. I love my sport, and I continue because of the support and the fans. But there are some apps out there, not calling any names, where the figure skating fans behind the computer like to have their say. And also, during competitions, we’re recommended not to go on social media and not to look at these things, but sometimes we do. So I, of course, opened Twitter sometimes. Oh man, did I open the app to some stuff yesterday, and not just opinion stuff, there were some mean things written on there. Whether you liked the program, whether you liked the skater, whether you liked the costume, verbal abuse on social media should not be tolerated.
And I’m saying that as a grown confident woman; opening the app yesterday and seeing what was written about myself really brought me down. So imagine these kids getting into the sport, going to use social media, and they go online and see these comments. We see your comments, we see everything. We’re of this generation where social media is such a huge thing. We see everything, unfortunately. So to whoever said I should have stuck with that ‘Dancing on Ice’ paycheck. I’m glad I didn’t. I loved what I did on the show. I came back for myself, for my fans, for the rest of my dreams in figure skating. I want them all to know: we see what you say, and it’s bullying and it hurts. And I’m doing this for fun; I’m doing it because I love it. So I know this video is not going to stop what’s going on online, but as long as I can bring awareness to skaters, to younger kids, let it not go too far.
I want to put this out because I love what I do, I love my sport, I love the people in it, and I want it to stay happy and healthy. Thank you to everybody who supports people in my world of figure skating, and I love you.”
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She’s absolutely right ! People on social media have a lot of negative things to say about skaters and I find it plain disrepectful sometimes. These are real people out there ! It’s not just a video on youtube or the television, skaters are humans that deserve to be respected.