Talking Sh!t to Celebs/Athletes on Social Media--Houston Astros version

Social media is a great platform to express opinions. It is a place where you can air out all your thoughts, share pictures and what is happening in your life, as well as being a great place to TALK SHIT to athletes and celebrities. And with a smidge of luck, they might see it. With even more luck, they might even respond to you. People go on twitter, Facebook, and more to write posts about their feelings towards someone famous and believe its ok because they do not know them in real life, and that there is a stigma that high-profile people should be better than the average person at handling themselves when fans are talking shit to them. Perhaps you have seen the “mean tweets” segment on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, Late Night or Live with, whatever the hell it’s called.

People may say rude things about celebs and athletes online because first, depending on how egregious their comments are, there will be no consequences, and second, to feel vindicated. People love pointing out on twitter how Tom Brady is too old and how LeBron will never be Jordan, but what really ignites the fire is when real controversy strikes.

In the news lately has been the Houston Astros for a sign-stealing scandal that started in 2017, that led to them unfairly winning a World Series title that same year, and there has been mixed feelings about how the situation was handled by Major League Baseball. Basically, the Astros players were granted immunity by MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred, if they opened up and gave full details about what really happened when it came to them stealing signs from other teams. As a result, the Houston Astros were fined $5,000,000 (a relatively small number for a major sports franchise), lost their first two picks in the MLB draft for the next two seasons, and their manager and General Manager were suspended for one season, which was followed by Astros owner, Jim Crane, firing them. The scandal has led to three managers being fired, the managers for the Astros, Boston Red Sox, and New York Mets as those two managers were apart of the Houston Astros organization in 2017, however, no players were suspended or even fined. This has outraged both fans and players from other organizations who believe that the players should have been suspended because they were the ones who implemented the scheme and had the advantage.

It has been interesting to see how fans have reacted to the scandal on social media. Most fans believe MLB’s punishment was weak, and they feel it is their responsibility to berate the Astros through social media because they feel it is the only way to express how outraged the sports community is over this scandal.

I have recently read an article titled: “Astros report receiving death threats on social media,” that was posted a mere 22-hours ago by the Boston Globe. It has excerpts from Astros outfielder, Josh Reddick, who talks about how he has received death threats online, reading tweets he has been tagged in that express hatred and violence towards him. The article also mentions an excerpt from Tony Clark, the head of the MLB Players Association, who says there are “undoubtedly concerns out there based on the commentary” of fan reactions and that there is a “heightened sense of concern to make sure that themselves and their families are protected” if these online threats turn out to be more then fans using their social media accounts to rant and rave.

So alright, we get it, the Astros are pieces of shit who should die. Well, at least according to some twitter users. You might be asking yourself why there is such a strong reaction to this story. After all, this is sports we are talking about, games with no real consequences. This isn’t politics. And you might be wondering why everybody is getting upset over baseball of all sports, a sport that all I hear people say about it is that it’s a “dying sport” and “soooooo boring.” The reason for the widespread attention on the story is outrage, and what can outrage affect….

SPREADABILITY & INFLUENCE

Social media can be one big chain reaction. It starts with a few fans outraged. Then a few more join in on the fun. Then a couple more. Then you get a couple big named people make some comments. 

Then BAM! Everybody’s talking about it, sharing it, and the story becomes VIRAL. 

Its just like when a movie comes out and gets great reviews, more people want to see it and be a part of it. That is what is happening here with this Astros scandal. It has gotten to the point where this story started out as relatively small news in the world of sports, to now it is one of the biggest and most frequently mentioned sports stories discussed on sports talk shows and Sirius XM programs, because this story has spread on social media. Sports shows talk about the stories that are trending on social media, its not what they think is the top story. Why does ESPN talk so much about basketball and have their own basketball shows when football is the clear #1 sport in America. Because it is what’s trending on social media, and trending GLOBALLY. If you go on any social media platform whether it is Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, you will notice that the NBA and its team’s social media pages DOMINATE the NFL, MLB, and others when it comes to followers. Why? Well, did you know there is over one billion people in China? You know. And there are a lot of Chinese people as well as Europeans that follow the NBA because it is a globalized sport, which leads to NBA stories as so spreadable and influential.

I got a little off track but I just wanted to point out that stories that are getting the most attention on social media are the stories that end up making the cut of what ESPN and Fox Sports TV personalities are going to discuss the following morning. That is why it is mostly NBA and NFL discussed. For this baseball story to come in and be talked about as much as LeBron and Steph Curry (who by the way are the two most followed American athletes on social media), it is because people are talking about it on social media, voicing their outrage, talking shit to the Astros and their players. I don’t condone death threats to anyone, but there is no doubt those opinions that fans are voicing is what getting this story attention on social media, and just in the media in general.

Fan opinions spread stories, whether it is a positive or negative reaction. Social media content CREATES news stories. And when it comes to a story that has spread around the country like the Houston Astros scandal, social media controls the narrative.