Arsenal legend Ian Wright has hit out at people who use social media to abuse others, and that trolls and other assorted idiots have made him reassess his use of it.
Speaking about how he was keen to interact with his followers, he outlined how he simply got fed up with the negativity and decided to quit Twitter over the last few weeks.
Speaking to the Long Ball Street podcast, he spoke at how tiresome he found it having to deal with constant nonsense.
“I’m not gonna come back because social media is just going to become bigger,” he said.
“It’s a monster. It’s out of control. It’s Godzilla. And we’re not going to be able to stop it. In films we’ve seen them stop Godzilla, but we can’t stop social media, and what they’re going to do.
“This is why I’ve come off Twitter. I don’t know if I’m going to go back on, because I don’t need to bring those kind of people … of course you get a thousand requests to wish people happy birthday, can you do this, can you re-Tweet this, can you do that.
“But sometimes it’s the straw that breaks the camels back when you get a comment, you know people are just doing it simply for a reaction.”
Wrighty, never one to shirk a challenge, often questioned that kind of behaviour, but seems to have been worn down by it.
“Why can’t they just come on, decent, without the abuse, to interact?,” he asked. “I’m on there to interact.
“The amount of people I’ve engaged with just to say ‘Why are you saying that? Let’s talk about it’, and they ‘Naaah, I didn’t mean it, I was just saying it’, and then you end up having a decent conversation.
“It’s got to a stage where people are too abusive just because you’ve got an opinion. The other day, no reason … I didn’t even look at Twitter that day, I came in and thought ‘I don’t want wanna be any Twitter no more. I just don’t wanna do it.'”
Which is sad, because so many ‘celebs’ use Twitter as a soapbox or a way to promote their wares. When you have someone like Ian Wright who does want to engage with his followers but is being hounded off it, that says a lot.
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You can listen to the full Ian Wright episode, talking about Dennis Bergkamp, and lots more, right here.
Who can blame him?
He got abused because he said Tony Adams wasn’t given a job in the club because he (Adams) said Wenger doesn’t improve players.
A bit sad though…like him and Lauren on twitter. Typical behavior…they didn’t remember the times he stuck up for wenger
Welcome to being exposed to the biggest w*nkers in the world, set free to talk sh*te. Along with lots of great people too but the w*nkers are hard to ignore, as soon on here too at times,though usually mediated or blocked.
Here is the good side of the internet. Please sign.
https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-david-cameron-mp-ellie-butler-public-enquiry-is-needed
Ok, thumb down a guy that lost his murdered granddaughter, wife and has disowned his daughter.
My faith in the people on the Internet is restored.
It’s not that people don’t sympathise, it’s just that this doesn’t belong here. Welcome to the ambivalent side of the internet.
And a thumb down implies…ambivalence?
I think wrighty lost some fan base on the simple facts that his analysis on TV most times tend to be very controversial and abusive in itself. His opinions on Arsenal and Arsene are almost always not spot on!
Or the alternative is that some people are just cunts.
Think of a number,
multiply it by Stoke fans average IQ,
this time multiply it by a big number,
For instance the amount of years since the Spuds have gone without winning a title,
You still aren’t close to the amount of cunts on t’internet………..
The number of cunts on the internet is the square root of John Terry
Whilst true,
if you attempt to input this on a calculator it will slap you
And the calculator’s dad will nut you in a tube station
Only one?
That’s whats wrong with idiots like you. Just because someone has a different opinion to yours, doesn’t open them to abuse. And as far I know, Wrighty has never been abusive whilst giving punditry and is only abusive to bellends who deserve it.
oh the irony!
Had to be, right? Right?!
Its for exactly that reason I ignore twitter completely, and rarely post on the forums these days. Still love to read the majority of comments, the idiotic ones are what the scroll facility is for 😉
If I hadn’t kept up with the posts on here I might not have seen Gomorrah, I doff my cap Mr M, awesome, thanks for the heads up!!!! Binge watched it while I’m off work, can’t wait for series 2!!
There’s a fantastic film about Italy’s modern day mafia called Gomorrah as well…
And IMDB tells me the TV series is also based on the same book. Okay that’s a must-watch then! The film is really top-class, came out in ’08, highly recommend it. Thanks for dropping that on here!
Must watch! Downloading series 2 as I type……
I AGREE WITH HIM, PPL CAN BE TOO ABUSIVE SOMETIMES. THEY TAKE THINGS TOO PERSONAL
OR TYPE ALL IN CAPS
Who is PPL? Is he abusive? If so I don’t like him but who is he?
Or sniff butts
Sad state of affairs. I’ve always enjoyed his tweets, he has an honesty about him that you don’t always get from famous folks.
Oh Wrighty you legend. Spot on!
IAN WRIGHT WRIGHT WRIGHT!! Absolutely love Wrighty! Even if you disagree with him, you just know he is always just being honest and he absolutely loves the club.
Make sure you have a listen to the pod guys – The link is in the article, or search ‘The Long Ball Street’ on I-Tunes or Soundcloud. We sat with Ian for 1hour and 45 minutes and it was a deep convo that provides a true insight to the guy behind the guy rather than sit and talk about who will win the league.
Hope you enjoy.
Matt, co-host of the podcast
He should have a statue.
The only bad thing wrighty has ever done is that chicken tonight ad.
Ok maybe Gladiators too.
Apart from that he’s been a diamond geezer his whole life. He put himself out there on twitter, just like he used to get amongst the crowd at Highbury. It’s sad that a few (thousand) bellends can ruin it for the rest of us, seems to be the way these days
Cheers to Wrighty.
I have to say Ian Wright has aged well. Looks like he can almost still knock it about for us.
I get the feeling he’s one of those guys who is going to look just like that till he dies of a massive heart attack at the age of 87 while windsurfing.
Ian, you are wright.
Ahhaa I see what you did there! 🙂
While I agree that social media is full of morons, you have to understand that humanity has a large population of morons.
That said, Ian Wright has said some dumbass things on air and on social media. When people call you out for your stupid comments, you can’t just claim that they’re trolls or abusive, sorry.
I disagree. It’s completely possible to call someone out without being abusive. As I am doing now. The problem with Twitter and Facebook is that way too many people think their anonymity gives them the right to say really vile things to people they’ve never met. Something as simple as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain posting a photo of his vacation in California sees 90% of the comments along the lines of “you’re @#$%, you don’t deserve a vacation, why aren’t you spending your summer training, etc., etc., etc., blah blah blah.” Rambo posts a picture of his new hairstyle and gets torrents… Read more »
Dumbass? What the hell is that?
The amount of grief Wrighty got must’ve been pretty substantial for him to jack in Twitter. I mean, he sat across from Adrian Chiles for a couple of years without murdering him so he must have near saint-like levels of tolerance
Piers Morgan uses social media… Enough said!
It’s funny from a guy who spends his time spitting on his former club and its players… Not only internet should be condemned but also poor pundits – formerly players – who are bitter and have no time to do something useful.
He’s absolutely Wright. I’ll grab my coat
At some stage I feel like the problem of abuse, and especially threats, online is a problem that’s going to have to be dealt with.
At the moment online seems to still be treated as a sort of wild west scenario where anything goes because it’s not ‘real life’.
Of course there are wankers on the net but Wrighty does himself no favours. He slags off the manager, the team and the fans when it suits him and then has a go at fans that do the same.
I have seen people criticise him in a perfectly polite way on Twitter and he throws his toys out the pram.
Frankly, despite being an Arsenal legend, there is something about him and his football commentary that invites abuse. In fact, I would like to post abusive things about him right now. As a football player, he was a legend. As a commentator, he’s frankly a bit poo.
Opinions are like arseholes , everybody’s got one……
And a lot of them stink.
It is very easy to say the internet is Full of terrible people. This is not the truth, it is just that the terrible people are the loudest, and willing to engage in the abuse. They have anonymity, it is a good way to achieve 15 minutes of fame, and due to its accessibility a very easy tool to pour out vile or unfocused thoughts. I know I have had many moments as an Arsenal fan, where I just wanted to lay into the club, the players, and some of the opinions shared. But, you have to learn to detach… Read more »
It’s certainly tempting to let loose on occasion. The anonymity makes it easy. Personally I try not to say anything to a stranger online that I wouldn’t say to a strangers face if they were in front of me.
There’s times I’ve let myself say things I’d never say in an actual person to person situation and I’ve always regretted it later.
Social media and the general online community in general (forums, video games etc.) is something I find as I get older, less and less interested in. As Wrighty says, you want to interact with people so you participate. But then you get a thousand “check out this video or meme” posts on Facebook before a genuine status, a bunch of virgins acting like utter cunts in online games and trolls on forums spitting bile simply to get a reaction. The anonymity of the Internet just gives that 1-5% of wankers a voice that they have no hesitation in using to… Read more »
Words of a dinosaur 😀