Philadelphia 76ers: The Bryan Colangelo crisis and toxicity of celebrity social media

Celebrity addiction

People who are celebrity status, or are close to a celebrity, often assume an expert role in social media to establish their higher “pecking order” status. But once there, the gratification of trolling online pulls them back, again and again.  This is not to say that Bryan Colangelo is guilty, nor is the intention to finger someone close to Bryan Colangelo as the person responsible.

But it’s a condition of modern society and culture today. There are contests among celebrities over who has the most followers, and there are numerous instances where those alter-egos (burner accounts) become national news.

The fragile anonymity of social media, the compulsion to monopolize subject matter, and the permanent record of internet information should dissuade anyone from practicing social media trolling if their discovery can have disappointing results. Like every addiction though, changing the practice requires hitting a rock bottom.

Social media manners

I cannot speak for Bryan Colangelo, his family members or close friends, or even celebrities as a whole, but I can speak for myself. Don’t cross lines on social media that you would not cross face-to-face. Don’t share information publicly that you are provided with an expectation of confidentiality. And most of all, do not betray someone’s trust.

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I get it. We have emotions, and social media is an easy outlet. When topics on Twitter turn to subjects we may have direct or close-to-direct knowledge about, it’s difficult to resist the urge to “weigh in.” But if you are a celebrity with a public forum, statements tend to polarize immediately. And if you are in the business of knowing confidential information and share that information, you do irrevocable damage. Perhaps we might all grow wiser in the aftermath of this narrative.