COLUMN: Social media abuse threatens to end darts as we know it

The Aussie has had a terrible time of it recently, rounded off by contracting coronavirus. And he did beat Dirk van Duijvenbode, in his defence. The Original finished bottom of his group - but nothing could've warranted the private messages he received during that evening.

Fair warning - some unsavoury language was included.

"My god. You s*ck at darts for real," the private Twitter message began.

"F*cking d*ckhead.

"How can you even lose to someone who is from Sweden?? Shame on you. F*ck You."

Anderson, typically, took it with good grace. But the social media haranguing he received is an indictment of how shabbily sports stars are being tweeted, by people who think they have that right by placing a bet.

After his own PDC Home Tour exit, Joe Cullen had to fend off Twitter comments that were far from constructive. Since then, the Rockstar has silenced those who accused him of "pathetic" darts by winning Group 31. Modus' Icons of Darts has attracted a lot of interest, and unfortunately that has come with negative feedback, including the ludicrous accusation of cheating.

Players are providing us with darting entertainment in the most bizarre and unprecedented of circumstances, and yet somehow it's not good enough. The alternative is the PDC thinking of new Twitter polls for Wayne Mardle to win; I can't bear going through all that again.

It feels like the animosity in the game is growing. As more headlines are made and more interest is garnered, dissent against darts and individual players has become more spiteful.

Of course, social media is a bubble - one in which trolls' voices resonate much more than in real life. That being said, concerns about crowd behaviour have been prevalent recently. And if you don't believe that players can feel personally attacked, just talk to Gerwyn Price, Justin Pipe or William O'Connor (more broadly, anyone playing against a German player in Germany).

The issue is that detractors feel that the abuse is part and parcel of sport. Football players get it, that's for sure. Another thing you might notice is that very few football players are open social media users.

Sports stars have been getting more and more distant from fans in recent decades. They're ferried to and from games, they keep themselves to themselves, and you'd be hard-pressed to find top sportsmen and women mingling at the local pub.

Darts is an oasis from all of that. Ian White, Darren Webster and Ricky Evans' antics are a social media highlight. The exhibition circuit means that any punter has a chance to catch up with players. Darts players are normal people, who are exceptionally good at a game that we can all play in our homes, pubs and sports bars.

But if this is how players are going to be treated now, will they bother? You couldn't blame Anderson for putting his Twitter account to bed if he's going to continue getting abuse.

One troll, who was recently called out by ex-footballer Ian Wright for a racist Instagram rant, felt able to do it under the impression that the messages wouldn't be seen. Wright correctly called them out, as Anderson did. People can't be surprised when they send something offensive, and it causes offence. There's only so much abuse that any person can take.

If the players start to isolate themselves from the fans (and not in the socially responsible way we're doing now), we'll lose a bit of what makes darts such a great thing to follow.

Let's be clear; nobody is immune from criticism. Part of being in top-level sport is having high standards, and being open to scrutiny should those standards slip. Michael van Gerwen won't have taken the conversation about supposed slumps to heart. If anything, it will have galvanised him to further success.

But darts is an individual sport. Players aren't accountable to team-mates, fan clubs, or anyone who happens to lump on a bet. All the focus is on them, win or lose. It means that things get personal a lot quicker.

The onus is on you. If you get angry at the outcome of an someone losing at an individual sport, that's on you. If you feel that you can log on and hurl obscenities at someone because they didn't help you win a bet, that's on you.

Darts is better for having that connection between player and viewer. The least that we as viewers can do is help give players a reason to open themselves up.

Just imagine all the Ian White content we'd miss out on, and think twice.