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ON Thursday, our editor published an open letter responding to JK Rowling’s claims that The National is an “anti-women newspaper”. I shared the article on Twitter/X, expecting little to no engagement, given I have only been a professional, paid journalist for about seven weeks and my account had 30 followers. I was mistaken.
At the time of writing, my post is sitting at over 600,000 views, with more than double the amount of engagement the original tweet posted from the official National account got. As you might expect when a social media post picks up that kind of traction, I have been inundated with abuse.
This week, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes called social media “destructive”, noting that the misogynistic and often personal attacks sent online will have an impact on the number of young women going into politics.
She’s right, and it’s not just politics. Since I started my journalism journey in 2023, being subject to this sort of abuse was something that concerned me.
Luckily, I am part of the generation which grew up online and this isn’t my first taste of virality. Being labelled a “pick me” and a “handmaiden” hasn’t quite stung the way comments from TikTok tweens telling me to kill myself over a video of me playing Subway Surfers at a Harry Styles concert did.
I have no issue with people having different opinions to my own – after all, our differences are what make for meaningful and engaging debate. This kind of dogpiling that is often directed at women, however, is abhorrent and should not be tolerated, especially from those who hide behind anonymous social media accounts. If you have something to say, at least have the courage to show your face.
But what saddens me is that there are probably swathes of young women, my age or younger, who are exceptionally talented writers that we will never be exposed to over fears of experiencing this unacceptable behaviour themselves.
Journalism is already seriously lacking female voices. We do not need to widen the gender gap any further because people are incapable of civil debate on the internet.
