Twitter is a great tool for communication. (You follow us, don’t you?) Sure, some folks have criticized it for being just another way to broadcast your choice of oatmeal — and it is. But it’s also a lightning-fast way to share information, as we saw during last year’s protests in Iran, or in the case of a kidnapping that took place earlier this week, when the victim tweeted his location from his captor’s mobile phone.
Unfortunately, Twitter is so easy to use that people often do so without really considering what they’re saying. This week’s cautionary example: Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice, who dropped the f-bomb after a rugby match. I believe her exact words were, “suck on that, faggots”.
This did not go over well.
Jaguar dumped Rice immediately, cancelling its sponsorship and taking back the $100,000 ride it had loaned her. Gay rubgy star Ian Roberts called her “an idiot”, though Rice’s good friend, Olympic diver and gay heartthrob Matthew Mitcham, soon tweeted in her defense: “I agree, it was offensive & very thoughtless, but being friends with her for 2yrs, I know she is not homophobic”.
Rice has issued a tearful apology, seen here on Australia’s 10 News.
From where we sit, it appears that Rice isn’t outwardly homophobic, she just got wrapped up in the heat of the moment and forgot the power of words. We hate to see anyone suffer undue punishment, but we can’t blame Jaguar for pulling its support: Rice’s brand has been tarnished, and it makes sense that the company would want to distance itself from her.
A few more incidents like this, and the rest of the world might start getting the hint.
[via Towleroad]
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