“God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.” Much like the comment sections of popular websites, Twitter amplifies the voice of the crazies. We don’t know what satisfaction or personal sense of accomplishment people get from trolling – it’s an age-old question. What people get out of “@ mentioning” Indians players and then ripping into them is beyond my comprehension…and I’m a pretty pessimistic and cynical guy. But they do it and they always will.
Which is why it’s not a good idea for Chris Perez to pick up his phone after a blown save and proceed to open his Twitter app. Perez is outspoken on Twitter and almost never holds back criticizing the critics (we saw this last month when he came at Paul Hoynes for a negative tweet). After a brutal loss last night, Perez blasted off the above tweets. There were two opinions on this. One was a “good for him” positive opinion. Perez should stick up for himself against these anonymous twitter losers. The second is that he should keep his twitter app closed and not advance mental turmoil from last night – giving off the appearance of further unraveling.
Twitter is a great tool to communicate and interact directly with famous athletes. But too often that interaction is “hate, hate, hate.” Last week, Matt LaPorta closed his account after trolls started in on him and his bases-loaded 9th inning double play. They were pretty mean and nasty tweets that obviously accomplish nothing. Last night, Manny Acta addressed the twitter trolling with the following:
Winning 1st season series vs Red Sox since 05′= Great. Blowing the lead vs Rangers = Disappointing. Blocking 10 negative fans = Priceless.
Admirably, the Indians are extremely active on Twitter – this includes management, like Acta and Mark Shapiro, and a host of players – particularly the “bullpen mafia.”
With that said, I don’t think Perez should fire off after a loss like that. Everyone is heated and it’s only going to work the trolls up even more. He can do whatever he wants after a game but I’d rather him not be picking up his phone and engaging twitter trolls after a blown loss – it’s just not productive and is not the best look (I realize I’m a nobody and my opinion doesn’t matter but I also often think the same of Dan Gilbert’s tweets).
I think Perez’s tweets are generally funny and I like his schtick. I’m just some guy in my parents’ basement with a computer etc., but I think he and the other Wahoos just need to ignore the trolls or better yet, not pick up your phone, open your Twitter app, and scroll what they’re saying about you after a loss. Perez finished his rant with, “The day I let people get inside this mind is the day I retire.” With all these tweets, we’re kind already there, no?
