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The England captain, Maro Itoje, has warned of the corrosive effect of social media on professional athletes and wider society before the crucial Six Nations encounter with Ireland on Saturday.
Itoje will win his 100th England cap at Twickenham in what has become a must-win game for the hosts after last weekend’s deflating defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield. The buildup has been marred by racist abuse on social media of the Ireland second row Edwin Edogbo, after the 23-year-old made his debut from the replacements’ bench in their win against Italy in round two.
Itoje said the abuse of Edogbo was “incredibly sad” and spelled out the danger of the online world, explaining why he believes the wider damage it is causing will become clear. “Social media has been a force for good in many ways but it’s also been a force for negativity in a lot of other ways,” Itoje said.
“I think it’s really important for athletes, as well as ordinary people, not to live their life based on what social media says about them. Because it would be a horrible way to live your life. I would advise all top-level athletes not to spend too much time on social media because it’s really corrosive.
“My hypothesis is we’re going to see in the coming years a huge amount of damage that has been done to us as humans, and as a society, as a result of social media in terms of brains and brain development.”
Itoje also pointed to the modern media landscape being one of extremes, explaining that he tries to maintain a sense of perspective whether he is praised or criticised. “Social media is very dangerous because even when it is positive it can be corrosive,” he said.
“While I have a huge amount of respect for everyone in this room, [in mainstream media] what tends to happen is the positive news is extremely positive, and the negative extremely negative. In reality, you’re always somewhere in the middle.
“If you just go with what the headlines say, or what they say on social media, it’s a horrible way to live your life because you become a slave to what other people say about you.”
Itoje said the abuse of Edogbo demonstrates the battle against racism must continue but that he also believes there is some progress being made. “The stuff around Edwin is incredibly sad,” he said. “It’s something no one should have to go through and it’s a reminder there is still work to do. While the stuff we’re seeing – whether it’s Vinícius Júnior or Edwin Edogbo – is terribly sad and we as a community need to keep on stamping this type of thing out.
“But I do also believe that we are moving in somewhat the right direction. But moving in the right direction is not a given. It takes work. I think we all need to constantly remind ourselves of the work that we need to do.”
The Ireland head coach, Andy Farrell, has dropped the fly-half Sam Prendergast from his matchday squad to face England after their narrow victory against Italy in Dublin. Jack Crowley of Munster starts at No 10 with Leinster’s Ciarán Frawley providing cover on the bench after Farrell made five changes to his starting team. Jamison Gibson-Park returns to start at scrum-half, replacing Craig Casey, with Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier restored to the pack.
“Jack Crowley starts because of what we’ve seen and how he’s come through and performed,” Farrell said, before backing Prendergast to recover from his omission. “Sam’s a fantastic international player, he’s on a journey that’s obviously learning, like all of us. That will never stop. It’s the same for Ciarán Frawley. We’ve talked all along about the lads competing against one another, and the balance is right for this team this weekend.”
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