I wasn't reading anything leading up to Nationals but it is true Sasha is not liked by all. But I don't think she was ever trashed the way Lipinski was years ago. And Hughes. Slutskaya got lots of negative commentary on her skating. Years ago it seemed MK was the one person on the boards no one dared criticize.
EXACTLY. Nailed the point so hard that I'll bold it for emphasis.
And having been around here for 8 years, I can only fully endorse your point. I was often one "of those" that dared to go against mass public opinion and you know the rest. But unlike most of the few that did the same, I'm still posting here today.
You know, all this is really simple. It's all a numbers game. The reason one skater appears to be "liked" or "disliked" by a forum has to do with the ratio of vocal supporters to vocal detractors. If a skater has more supporters at a given forum, it will feel like that skater's fan site, of course. Likewise, if a skater has more detractors at a given forum, it will feel like that skater is getting dumped on all the time. And it's all about the numbers- one person disagreeing in a sea of supporters will just get hammered. But if 5, 6 people join in with the same opinion, the playing field evens a bit.
As for Lipinski and Hughes, unfortunately for them, their fans stayed confined to the fansites and stayed away from the general boards. So the general boards had mostly detractors, which in turn scares away the fans, and the vicious cycle continues. It usually takes the retirement of said skater for things to calm down. Even then, every time the name is brought up, the fire is re-ignited.
One more thing: poster-bashing in response to a criticism typically DOES NOT help the situation. It just usually leads to resentment of that skater's fans, and as an indirect consequence, maybe even the skater herself. In "defending" your skater this way, in reality, you're just opening her up to more attacks.
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