When mental health gets ‘too real’
Should reality television producers do more to protect and support contestants from the harm of social media attacks? Quiip’s Venessa Paech and Erin Tierney investigate.
It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of a compelling reality show, and even easier to forget there are real people in front of the cameras. Social media chatter around reality television is intense; it’s part of the appeal for viewers, producers and contestants alike. But that chatter can quickly turn hostile, and it’s not always something contestants are prepared for.
David Witko of Bachelorette fame found himself subject to torrents of online abuse after being framed as the seasonal ‘villain’. Casting black hats and white hats is par for the reality course, and audiences understand this. But it seems some are having trouble telling fact from fiction, taking their investment in the program into dark territory.
David Witko on The Bachelorette
Thanks for an interesting article – this is an interesting topic that raises a lot of questions.
It seems there are two distinct types of keyboard warriors – organised, professional trolls (as covered brilliantly in Ginger Gorman’s book Troll Hunting) and then the average everyday person who fires off truly hateful abuse in reaction to things they see on TV. This latter group is fascinating, as frequently they are the same people who are calling out onscreen behaviour as bullying, whilst using threats, abuse and other derogatory comments to make their points. They don’t seem to form the link back to their own behaviour, nor would they see themselves as trolls. 7’s recent WAFL post is a timely example.
Thanks for your comments Insider. It is sad that we saw those comments appear on what is an incredibly powerful picture, but also a window into the state of social media today. As guardians of the internet, community and social media managers should feel empowered to report where they can to show platforms that this behaviour isn’t tolerated, and when working on your own brand pages, react appropriately within your guidelines.