Patriots fans and the dark side of social media - CNET

The ugliness of humanity was on full display in 140 characters after Sunday's American Football Conference Championship game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos.

Twitter erupted with personal attacks on Patriots All-Pro placekicker Stephen Gostkowski, who missed a point in the first quarter that not only would've tied the game, but possibly was the difference in Pats 20-18 loss to the Broncos -- and a possible chance to go the Super Bowl.

The tweets ranged from fans hoping Gostkowski's children would die to recommending he slit his wrists. There was a healthy amount of profanity too.

The Patriots declined to comment Monday about the fans' reaction to Gostkowski on social media. Gostkowski hasn't discussed the fan reaction but did say Sunday's miss was a "nightmare" scenario (the last extra point he missed was during his rookie season in 2006). "I feel like I loss the game for the team," he said, according to Sports Illustrated. "I feel sorry for myself, but I don't expect people to feel sorry for me."

While attacks on athletes on social media are nothing new, the outrage on Sunday is the latest example of the truly dark side of social media. Tech giants including Twitter and Facebook say they make it easier to connect us all around the globe. But for every empowering event such as the Arab Spring and #BlackLivesMatter, there's a dark controversy such as GamerGate, which targeted activists with death threats. They remind us that people of all stripes are using social media.