A Red Herring on my Facebook Wall

The way the tennis player, Novak Djokovic, stood up for bodily integrity during the virus scare has turned him into something of a legend. Very few can see or hear anything about him without thinking back to the days when he was locked out of tournaments for no other reason than that he refused to take part in the medical experiment involving a new and largely untested vaccine. In fact, very few can even watch a tennis match without giving at least some thought to the controversies that surrounded the man. Any mention of professional tennis invokes memories of the lockdowns, the vaccines, and the man who stood up against it all.

This makes Novak Djokovic a hero in the true sense of the word. The man stood up against tyranny when just about everyone had given in to pressure. He could have given in, and he could have faked compliance, but he did none of this. He stood up for the principle that we are the owners of our own bodies and no-one has the right to demand that we ingest or inject anything against our will.

Novak Djokovic is such a strong symbol for bodily integrity that the mere mention of him is a statement in itself. Tennis has likewise become a symbol due to the battle of wills that took place with this sport as the backdrop.

This has prompted me to post tennis related news on my Facebook wall. Tournaments riddled with bedridden sportsmen is one type of news that I share. Finals with Novak Djokovic as a contestant is another favourite of mine.

As it happened, the US open tournament this year was not only riddled with bedridden sportsmen, it ended with Novak Djokovic the big winner. Two years of systematic isolation of the man had not dented his great physical shape. While other players fell ill with chest pains and other ailments, Novak Djokovic sailed all the way to the top.

That resulted in me posting in short order three tennis related news-stories on my Facebook wall, all with minimal comments. The message required no help from my side, or so I thought until I got a grumpy comment on the story about Novak Djokovic's gold medal triumph.

"Just another ball hitter" the comment read.

This was either a deliberate attempt to derail my subversive messaging, or it was from someone genuinely clueless about the symbolic significance of Novak Djokovic's victory.

Not wanting others to think that I'm merely a tennis obsessed fan, I replied by laying out my true intention in sharing the news. I stated directly that I like Novak Djokovic mainly for his heroic stand against tyranny. The fact that he's a world class tennis player is of secondary importance.

I thought this would be the end of it, so I was surprised to find no less than three hastily put together replies to my explanation, one featuring an ugly picture of Novak Djokovic, the other two insinuating that the man is a crook and should not be viewed as a hero.

This revealed to me that the man's intention with his initial comment was to distract everyone from the true significance of Novak Djokovic victory. It was a red herring, intentionally put on my wall. This in turn made me angry, and I was tempted to reply with something equally provocative. But I thought better of it. Such a reply would only reflect badly on me, and it would further distract readers from my intended message. I had to come up with something more effective.

First of all, I had to fully take in the fact that I was dealing with a red herring. The purpose of the comments were to distract me and readers alike. From this it followed that I should simply double down on my message. I should make it crystal clear that Novak Djokovic is a hero no matter what else might be true about the man.

Secondly, I realized that I should simply acknowledge the tasteless way the commenter had portrayed the tennis player.

The short reply that I ended up with was that Novak Djokovic may have ugly facial features, and he may be a crook, but none of this diminishes the fact that he's the most highly profiled figure to come out in favour of liberty and bodily integrity in the midst of the virus scare and all the insanity that surrounded it.

My reply didn't just defend my original position, it pointed out the needlessly aggressive commenting by my Facebook friend. My reply elevated my original message. It also highlighted the sort of low level criticism that has been thrown at the man by simply referring to the comments made by my friend.

I had expected my Facebook friend to quietly ignore my final reply at this point, but he decided instead to apologize. It appears that he's not a mere internet troll to be ignored, and I put a like on his final comment, so we're still friends.

I must admit that I found the episode both uncomfortable and draining. But the way it panned out made it worth it. I now know that the way to defused a red herring is to double down on the message while holding a mirror up to the troll. If done in polite language and with no hint of anger, the troll is tamed. It may even apologize for its actions.

By Facebook, Inc. - http://en.facebookbrand.com, Public Domain, Link