When it comes to NASCAR and social media, a driver like Kyle Busch certainly draws polarizing opinions. (Photo Credit: Josh Jones/TPF)
Why are NASCAR fans so negative?
Don’t get me wrong – not everyone is, but it has become a social phenomenon in NASCAR online culture to be overly critical of everything the sport does.
Bad race? Blame this generation of car.
Sponsors leaving? Blame the marketing strategy.
Kyle Busch wins again? Blame everyone and everything…
Finding the fine line of opinions in NASCAR is much like reading tire wear! (Photo Credit: Kathleen Cassidy/TPF)
It is no secret that a lot of industries are struggling this day in age and NASCAR may be one of them depending on your opinion.
However, having ‘fans’ bash the sport online is not helping anyone. Why would any of your friends, coworkers or even acquaintances want to learn about something new when you have nothing good to say about it week after week?
As a race fan, I feel like it is exhausting to constantly see “Negative Nancies” all over my social feeds.
The Fans’ Voices
“I have to go back to avoiding my timeline before, during and after races.” (Brian Johnson, North Carolina)
“I realize that people use social media as a tool to hide behind and I can guarantee you that some of the comments, tweets and posts that I have read, 99% of the people would never say that in person.” (Michael Palmer, Michigan).
The Drivers’ Voices
“Yeah, it’s really cool. I feel like I just try to have fun with it. Social media can be a pretty crappy place at times, so try to just ignore everybody that wants to talk crap and have fun with the people that are cool about it.” (Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 88 Nationwide/Axalta Chevrolet Camaro)
“I think it’s extremely hard to properly communicate the basis for someone’s opinion in the short amount of time that you have people’s attention span online when you make a tweet, whether it’s a fan or an influence, it’s really hard to properly formulate and deliver the message the right way. I think it just makes it easy to end up backing into your corner and roping yourself off and closing your mind to other ideas.
It’s really hard to have a conversation just over a text message on Twitter or even on a message board or something like that. It’s really tough and I think people tend to gravitate towards negativity and it’s really easy to fire off negativity online because we gravitate towards it and it’s easy to be trigger happy on a platform like Twitter.
I don’t take too much to the negativity. I think the whole world is struggling with that right now. It’s so much better and easier to have real conversations in-person with people and that’s where you really make progress.” (Landon Cassill, driver of the No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet Camaro)
Ultimately, I’m not telling you how to run your social media here friends. But come on – let’s be positive and build back that great NASCAR fan culture! Instead of always complaining, let’s offer solutions to fix the problems in the sport we love!
