The Yamaha rider closed his Twitter account after having an exchange of words with some followers regarding news that Viñales classified as “absolutely false”.
The runner’s anger was not so much with the haters or followers, as for giving truth to information that by itself was not maintained anywhere.
However, many understood that Maverick had grown tired of the criticism and hate that often hides behind it, in most cases from fake or simply anonymous accounts.
A trend that in some areas has begun to mobilize athletes and institutions. This same Thursday, the European Association of Football Clubs (UEFA) announced a blackout on its social networks through, precisely, a tweet:
“ UEFA will join a coalition of English football stakeholders by remaining silent on its social media platforms this weekend.
The purpose of the boycott is to show solidarity in the fight against online abuse,” the announcement said, a blackout that will last until Monday night.
Other pilots, such as Jack Miller , also showed their anger with the tone of the comments he received on some social networks, criticizing that they were made anonymously and to harm athletes.
“Sometimes things are invented. The problem is that they invent information and sow doubt. And that is the biggest problem that exists, because there are many things that nobody really knows. What is spoken within a team not even God knows, only the team, and that is the biggest problem that exists, that they invent something that nobody knows, “said Maverick this Thursday.
Dorna , the management company of MotoGP, has spent large amounts of money protecting the brand on social media, notably by preventing hacking. However, he has not gone into the subject of attacks on his pilots online.
“In the end it’s a matter of education, I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do about it,” said the Yamaha rider.
“I have closed Twitter because personally my priorities are Instagram and Tik Tok, which is where we can really have potential. Twitter is a more serious thing, more news, a bit outside my profile. That is the idea for which I have closed the account. I had been wanting to get out of there for years, but I couldn’t find the situation, but talking to the team that takes me on social networks, we came to the conclusion that we have more volume on the other networks, so we decided to close Twitter, “explained Maverick.
The fake news that caused the reaction assured that the rider had threatened Dorna with leaving MotoGP for having canceled the laps in Q2 in Portugal.
“They invented that I had threatened to leave MotoGP. How am I going to do that? If he is having a spectacular championship, are we crazy? In addition, the issue of canceled laps is not even in the hands of Dorna, that is decided by a commissioner. There are really many things that are invented, but this one in particular is absolutely false and wrong. There is not much more to add”, the Catalan wanted to settle the issue.
Franco Morbidelli , with his usual capacity for reflection, also made an assessment in this regard during the press conference this Thursday in Jerez .
“I saw that Maverick had deleted his account and the truth is that I feel bad, it is something deplorable, a pity, because of someone who simply wants to do is release his hatred, and they choose an important guy like Maverick to pour that hatred, and their frustrations without giving a damn about how the message arrives, is deplorable, ”Franco insisted.
“It is something that is seen very often on the networks, I feel bad that he has cut his connection with the fans because of some stupid without education. I hope it comes back. I have never personally experienced anything like cyberbullying. Some criticism even makes you laugh, but when things get tough, it doesn’t do so much anymore, “added the Italian.
Marc Márquez , who knows first-hand how harsh some comments can be as a result of what he suffered after it was leaked that he was going to live in Andorra , or the confrontation with Valentino Rossi , all in 2015, agrees with Maverick where is the problem.
“Social media is the present and the future, it can be very positive and negative. The positive is that they bring you closer to the fans in a more direct way, but the bad thing is that they can harm you. What I don’t like is fake news .”
“I think that the way to access an account on a social network should be different, you should have to put your real name and ask for your ID, that would avoid many problems.”
Marc also commented on his personal experience. “Since 2015 I have withdrawn social networks from my life, I have people who notify me if I have to see something, I take care of it but without paying much attention,” he settled.
Fabio Quartararo is another regular, especially on Instagram, where he is very active.
“It is easy to comment when you are sitting on the sofa at home, to say that you had a bad race. I don’t look at the comments much and that helps. There will always be someone who criticizes when things go wrong, but that same person will praise you when you win. The most important thing is not to look at the comments that people make”, advised the Frenchman, leader of the World Cup.
Another great user of social networks is Aleix Espargaró , who has had great fights with sectors of users on account of cycling and, above all, football.
The Aprilia rider was questioned about Viñales’ action of closing his Twitter account.
“The only thing I can say about this hate that we are seeing on social networks is that people, in the end, will let companies take care of social networks and not the pilots themselves, for example myself, who handle”.
“We have to deal with people who don’t like something about you. To improve and succeed in life you have to accept criticism. But the problem is when we go to Twitter, which is one of the worst places, with a lot of hate. We see a lot of hate and you don’t have to deal with it, because in the end I know Maverick and he’s one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life, he’s a very, very good guy,” Aleix continues.
“Why do you have to deal with someone’s hate when you finish a race second or 12th? I’m really mad about this and honestly Maverick was the first, but I think Jack (Miller) was close to doing it too. I’m also thinking of shutting down Twitter, so I think everyone will have to relax. If not, all the athletes will close their profiles”, reflected Aleix.
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