Why is the Premier League the most popular football league worldwide? What are the best games in history according to their fans? And what emoji do they use to describe their matches in the best way? Read our small but strong study!

Emojis, speed and colonialism. Why do people like the Premier League, and just how much do they like it?

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#speed-and-elegance">Speed and Spectacular Elegance</a>&nbsp;<a href="#marketing-that-drives">Marketing That Drives</a>&nbsp;<a href="#language-and-commentators">Familiar Language and Commentators</a>&nbsp;<a href="#it-s-all-in-thrill">It’s All in the Thrill</a>&nbsp;<a href="#how-do-we-watch">But How Do We Watch Its Matches?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#emoji-bonus">Emoji Bonus</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;">It’s the beginning of August, so the new Premier League season has begun. We won’t be sharing transfer news or predicting which team will prevail at the end of this season. We would like to share some ideas about viewers’ moods as they wait for the coming season, how often they (we! you!) are ready to watch matches, and which matches from previous seasons viewers cherish in their hearts.We’ll also share fans’ explanations of why the English Premier League is, simply put, the most popular league on the planet.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1348/896;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/16b27066-30ab-428a-8779-a34161e00348.png" width="1348" height="896"><figcaption>&nbsp;by GettyImages</figcaption></figure>According to a plethora of reports—and&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://buzzmyvideos.com/en/the-european-football-youtube-report-2022/">here</a>&nbsp;we have one of the freshest of them—the English Premier League is the most closely watched European football league. Some reports claim that the Premier League is the most popular worldwide, not only in Europe.We would never argue with this, but we’ve decided to find out why this is so. We visited trends on Reddit and Quora and didn’t even have to ask because people had been discussing this topic themselves for the last several years. Reviewing many trends and conversations, we saw that they could easily be divided into four groups/reasons why people preferred the English Premier League, according to the fans themselves.<h2 id="speed-and-elegance">Speed ​​and Spectacular Elegance</h2>A popular opinion is also that football's speed and entertainment value attract spectators in the English Premier League. The Italians and Germans have tactics. But with the Premier League, we have fires and hurricanes. Those who support this theory discuss tactics across all of football but remain strangely silent about the reasons why the Premier League bypasses Spanish or, for example, South American football in terms of entertainment value.<blockquote>First, because they are really good to watch. Fast. Energetic. Skilful. Goals. Second, many people watch them. It allows for easier connection with others who like football. (<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/teetoose/">teetoose</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><blockquote>But the element that makes the difference between Premier League and La Liga, for example, is passion. Any mid or low table team in the Premier League, such as Brentford, Crystal Palace or Leeds, can be exciting to follow. Even if a team is poor on field, there is all this captivating drama surrounding the club. You cannot say the same about Almeria or Girona (no disrespect)&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/craciunc93/">craciunc93</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><blockquote>Because it's the best quality soccer. (<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/cheetah-21/">cheetah-21</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><h2 id="marketing-that-drives">Marketing That Drives</h2>Where would we be without marketing? Many viewers are convinced that the amount of money the Premier League spends on promotion and the quality of its advertising makes the world watch their games.<blockquote>Money. Premier League spent ridiculous amounts early on marketing and selling the league all over the world. Now it doesn’t need to so much because it's so big worldwide, it just markets itself.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ChrisGadge/">ChrisGadge</a>&nbsp;on Quora)</blockquote><h2 id="language-and-commentators">Familiar Language and Commentators</h2>A logical assumption is the theory that the English premiere is watched worldwide because…well…because it’s presented in English. We can understand commentators and follow the news no matter where we are in the world. Many Americans are fond of this idea and follow English football because it’s much easier than French football, for instance. But fans from across the whole world agree on this point. Many of them add that the Premier League unites players from around the globe, while in other national leagues, most players are local.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2564/1444;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/cbeaa4c7-81b4-4f78-b732-0e570b5919e8.png" width="2564" height="1444"><figcaption>Photo: John Walton/EMPICS Sport | by Getty Images</figcaption></figure>To boot, many fans agree that commentators make it worth watching English football, although here, the details fans provide differ—and interestingly, by a whole 180 degrees. Some claim that English commentators are calm and measured, and others say that they brighten up even boring matches with their emotions.<blockquote>I firmly believe it's because of the English language and how widely it is spoken and understood throughout the world.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Ok_Giraffe6654/">Ok_Giraffe6654</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><blockquote>This is definitely the biggest factor imo. Additionally, they were early to update their quality of broadcast to the standards set by USA sports.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/yourfriendkyle/">yourfriendkyle</a>on Reddit)</blockquote><h2 id="it-s-all-in-thrill">It’s All in the Thrill</h2>However, the most widely supported theory has to do with surprise: you can never predict who will win or how the forces will be distributed, even further down in the ranking than fourth place. In the French Ligue 1, you’ve only got PSG; in the Bundesliga and La Liga, there are two teams at this level; in the Italian Serie A, there are three… But only in the Premier League do we have a situation where there are virtually no underdogs. This vague but sweet theory confirms that nothing is in vain if fans believe in surprises and chance fate.<blockquote>Mainly because of the thrill. You never know which team will beat the other. Which is not the case in La Liga or the Bundesliga. In these two, the thing that matters is who is the winner in El Classico or Bayern-Dortmund matches. The competition in the league is very low.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.quora.com/profile/Krishna-Menan-1">Krishna Menan</a>&nbsp;on Quora)</blockquote><blockquote>Because who wants to watch Barca vs elche or Granada. Who ever reads this won’t be able to tell me one player from elche or granada not even 1. Ask Barca fans and they won’t know either. Seem to have it all figured out when they are fighting midgets&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/gunnersami/">gunnersami</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote>Many fans also believe that the Premier League is as popular as it is because of its accessibility. For example, in the US, matches can be watched on Disney+. Many TV channels worldwide have the rights to show PL games, while other leagues have fewer broadcast partners.Only the odd answer didn’t fall into one of our four categories. Other answers were “It’s all about bets”, “It’s just good old colonialism”, and something about purposefully directed matches. No, we aren’t joking!<blockquote>There is the element of camera work as well. I personally found it harder to watch the Spanish and the Italian league on screen as the camera is zoomed out during normal action and it’s harder to identify the players. While the EPL has a more zoomed in camera set up which makes me feel closer to the pitch. But it could be just me.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/lazymonkey9/">lazymonkey9</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><h2 id="how-do-we-watch">So, ok, we now know why we love the Premier League so much. But how do we watch its matches?</h2>What else can you do beyond asking fans directly? Among our survey participants, there were both very dedicated fans (who have been watching Premier League matches since 1999) and beginners, for whom this season will be only the second. We did not ask them for any personal details, but did clarify what clubs they supported. We found out that an approximately equal number of our respondents support Chelsea, Man City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal, with slightly fewer favouring Tottenham, Leicester and West Ham.We asked fans if they enjoy commenting on matches themselves, especially for their friends. 16.9% said that they do. Half of our respondents explained that it depends on their current mood, and 32% said that they favour the comments of professionals over their own.We also wanted to learn how fans feel about toxic messages during a match. After all, as we wrote earlier, it is precisely in the Premier League that we see an exceptionally high percentage of racist comments towards the players. Of course, this is odd because the English championship is multinational. Nevertheless… It turns out that most fans (55.9%) are annoyed by insulting comments about players, and a quarter of our respondents (25.4%) are indifferent to them. Only 8.5% of respondents admitted that they sometimes participate in such behaviour.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2434/1570;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/e22209d3-ac8c-4c4f-9668-4d9a93233a41.png" width="2434" height="1570"></figure>We also asked which Premier League game holds a special place in fans’ hearts. We expected that we might find a single “favourite” match in common. But it turns out that fans remember many different games. Ultimately, however, there were two matches that fans singled out more than others. Admittedly, one of these wasn’t a championship match at all but an FA Cup match. So many fans named this particular match so that it would be negligent of us simply to ignore it.The most memorable Premier League game was Manchester City v Queens Park Rangers. The score was 3:2; the match occurred on May 13th, 2012.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1792/1212;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/9afbf2a7-577b-48a3-9f56-6882e590d77b.png" width="1792" height="1212"><figcaption>by Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Man City needed to bypass Manchester United, while Queens Park Rangers needed to keep hold of their place in the League. It was the last match of the season. The decisive goal came from Aguero, who was playing as a substitute. Later, English bookmakers called this goal “the most expensive goal in history”: they had to pay out 20 million pounds to people who bet on Man City's victory with a score of 1:2 in favour of “QPR”. In the poll provided by Sky Sport, English fans picked this moment as the most memorable and brightest in PL history.The most memorable FA Cup match was Chelsea v Arsenal, with a final score of 6:0. It took place on March 22nd, 2014.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2066/1284;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/aa749152-5580-4a94-9d1d-cb21a3a5d944.png" width="2066" height="1284"><figcaption>by BCC Sport</figcaption></figure>The bitter irony is that this match was a game anniversary—the thousandth anniversary!—of former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger. Later, Arsenal managed to beat Chelsea on more than one occasion, including in an FA Cup final. The score, of course, wasn’t as impressive.<h2 id="emoji-bonus">Emoji Bonus</h2>Finally, we asked fans to share emojis that reflect their attitude to English Premier League matches. Here are the top 5:<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1358/1354;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/cf48239b-3eeb-4fe4-bb62-a0f788b35bb9.png" width="1358" height="1354"></figure>Surely, this whole range of emotions represents the entire future of any Premier League season, regardless of what team you actually support.</div>

Here we explore various studies about women athletes and women spectators.

Here, we explore various studies about female athletes and spectators.

Do women watch sports?

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#where-to-watch">Where can we watch female sports?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#not-as-new-audience">A completely new audience, or not as new?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#how-to-watch">How do women watch sports?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#what-sports-watchers-watch">What sports do women in the Watchers' team watch?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#get-in-touch">Get in touch</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;">In 2021 and 2022, many information agencies researched how viewing attitudes had changed during the pandemic. How do people watch sports now, and how will they watch it in the future?These studies revealed quite a few exciting things. For example, according to the survey provided by Meta, three out of four sports fans use social media exclusively to follow sports events and their favourite teams. One in five spectators who watch sports regularly don’t identify as sports fans. Also, it turns out that the popularity of women’s sports has risen significantly and that women themselves have become more active viewers. Likewise, they form a more significant percentage of the total TV and online broadcast audiences. Press enter or click to view image in full size<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1600/1168;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/0af51774-5cfb-4578-b4e7-5b5078735ad3.webp" width="1600" height="1168"><figcaption>By Getty Images</figcaption></figure>The Meta study shows that Latin America boasts the most gender-balanced sports spectators. In Latin America, almost as many women as men watch sports (49% vs. 51%).The most significant difference in watching patterns between the sexes can be seen in the Middle East and Africa. 61% of men watch sports, and only 39% of women do.<blockquote>“Growing up, I didn’t see Muslim women on billboards or TV. I felt like my dreams and goals were limited, because how do you dream bigger without seeing someone who looks like you accomplish those things?”</blockquote>—Asma Elbadawi, the Sudanese athlete, basketball trainer, and poetess, who convinced the International Basketball Federation to remove the ban on hijab-wearing.<h2 id="where-to-watch">Where can we watch female sports?</h2>Despite the growing popularity of women’s sports, finding an online broadcast isn’t easy, and this is even more true on TV.At the end of last year, the Altman Solon company conducted a study in which they surveyed 18 thousand respondents from 16 countries in Asia, North America, Latin America, and Europe. Here are their insights.They found that more than half of women living in the United Kingdom watch sporting events at least once a month. Every fifth woman in the UK says she watches the FA Women’s Super League as her favourite championship.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1426/1398;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/b98fe7d8-9e99-4744-8db9-1104053322d4.webp" width="1426" height="1398"><figcaption>Photo: @asmaelbadawi on Instagram</figcaption></figure>Why do these results refer much more to the UK if the poll was international? The answer concerns the partnership which has been active between SkySport, the Women’s Sport Collective, and BBC since 2021. SkySports managers claim audience size and engagement growth were extraordinary due to the integration.According to SkySport, the number of female sports viewers has increased by 49% since 2017. At the same time, in 2017, the International Women’s Cricket Championship final was viewed by more than a million viewers on SkySport platforms—more than the average Premier League match.“The final vs. a regular match?” We might be sceptical of the significance of this statistic, but remember that men’s football is the most popular sport around—and beyond all reach in terms of the overall level of interest. But now women’s cricket can compete with it!<blockquote>Respondents from 33 out of 40 countries indicate that football is the most popular sport. In the USA it is outstripped by American football, in India—cricket, in Canada—hockey, and by basketball in the Philippines.</blockquote><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1600/900;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/e3af40dd-38f2-4cb6-b6a8-399a8f19befd.webp" width="1600" height="900"><figcaption>©&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.ld25.tv/">https://www.ld25.tv</a></figcaption></figure>The Women’s Super League (WSL) broadcasts show the highest ratings. Nielsen estimates that with the rise in WSL fans, the season’s total British audience was 14.5 million, becoming the country’s fourth most popular national League.However, the most crucial part of this picture is a partnership. No league can become famous if sports fans don’t have access to watch its matches.<h2 id="not-as-new-audience">A completely new audience, or not as new?</h2>25% of those who watched women’s cricket had never watched men’s cricket in the past, and six million WSL viewers had never watched Premier League games. The conclusion is simple — if you don’t provide access to women’s sports, you are losing a potential audience.According to research by Travis Schaedler and Audrey Wagstaff in 2020, respondents who described women’s sports as “slower” and “less exciting” didn’t have any experience watching women’s competitions; their knowledge was built on prejudice. In addition, less than 10% of sports media covers women’s sports regularly.<blockquote>The Olympics have become gender balanced. 48.8% of the Olympic athletes in Tokyo were women. At the Olympics in Beijing, this figure dropped a bit — to 45%. According to Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Japanese Olympic games were the first gender-balanced in history.</blockquote><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2318/1544;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/71788633-475f-4dfc-9535-46f773bd987a.png" width="2318" height="1544"><figcaption>©Getty Images</figcaption></figure>As the female viewer base grows, so do the top women’s sports leagues. However, according to research, women are more event-oriented and prefer to watch flagship matches and top competitions. These results give rise to great potential for audience growth and the ability to transform female viewers from occasional viewers into more frequent viewers.Let’s look at competitions that women manage to watch not only in the UK but around the world. Compared to men, women are more likely to watch the Olympics, Women’s and Men’s World Cup, including FIFA games and World Tennis Association events. But women rarely watch regular championships, and this only leaves room for growth.<h2 id="how-to-watch">How do women watch sports?</h2>We also surveyed women to learn how they would prefer to watch games: whether alone or together, online or at the stadium—and what they need to make viewing more pleasant.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1036/1300;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/9a9a87de-487f-4aa9-83d5-b44ec1c66311.webp" width="1036" height="1300"></figure>We also asked an open question — what do you need to get pleasure from viewing sports online? Most women reiterated the importance of friends and good company, followed by snacks/food and a lack of advertisement while watching. One of the respondents shared that a bottle of beer comes in handy, “maybe two, if the game is bollocks”.<h2 id="what-sports-watchers-watch">What sports do women in the Watchers' team watch?</h2>"Unfortunately, not all sports close to me can be seen on TV or a video platform, as their broadcasting would be hard to organise, and their entertainment value is low. I would like to see more Open-Water Swimming Championships, triathlon races, and General Aviation Sports (air rally racing, precision flying, and air navigation races).&nbsp;From what the media offers, I watch football and Red Bull competitions. I have never missed a single Red Bull Air Race before, but now, after cancellation, I am following Cliff Diving. These are the guilty pleasures that I watch alone. As for football… Who cheers at the stadium alone? You need company; if we can’t come together with friends, we exchange impressions online”. —&nbsp;Yana Barden, CEO“Different women watch sports differently, just as is true of men. Some like to discuss and be in a crowd, whether real or virtual, because that brings joy. Others follow a game attentively, analysing tactics. I watch football and always react very emotionally. After all, football is like a film — the same strong emotions, editing, and close-ups are all present without any prepared script, and seasons are like series and have plot twists”. —&nbsp;Alina Kuzo, Editor-in-Chief<h2 id="get-in-touch">Get in touch</h2>If you want to build communities on your platform with a trusted and healthy space, and allow your users to discuss sports while watching,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/form">connect with us</a>. We will help you&nbsp;find the most suitable solution.<hr style="&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 &lt;strong&gt;Sources:&lt;/strong&gt;
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;
 &lt;a style=;margin-bottom:1vw;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/the-changing-profile-of-sports-fans-around-the-world">Sources:The changing profile of sports fans around the world | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/the-changing-profile-of-sports-fans-around-the-world">Facebook IQ</a>Analysis: 2021 Sports Survey | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.altmansolon.com">Altman Solon</a>Exposure to Women’s Sports: Changing Attitudes Toward Female Athletes | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://thesportjournal.org/article/exposure-to-womens-sports-changing-attitudes-toward-female-athletes/">The Sport Journal</a>Women's Sport: Record viewing in 2021 according to Women's Sports Trust research | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/other-sports/news/29877/12535281/womens-sport-record-viewing-in-2021-according-to-womens-sports-trust-research">Sky Sports</a></div>

Let's take a deep look at the latest studies about sports fans’ toxic behaviour online.

We take a deep look at how moderation works in online sports rooms and at the latest studies about sports fans’ toxic behavior online.

Abuse in sports online communities. How do we fight it?

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#according-to-the-reports">According to the reports</a>&nbsp;<a href="#is-it-because-of-social-media">Is it because of social media?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#Real-steps">Real steps</a>&nbsp;<a href="#pitfalls-to-avoid">Pitfalls to avoid</a>&nbsp;<a href="#get-in-touch">Get in touch</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><h2>According to the reports</h2>Since 2020, international sports associations, trade unions, and independent analysts have paid attention to the number of hate attacks on athletes that happen during competitions. This awareness has led to extensive research about abusive behaviour in online sports communities. FIFA, FIFPRO, the Conversation, World Athletics, Australian sporting organisations, eSafety, NBPA, and others presented proprietary studies.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*6qiCkhXHTxe3Bjmzt_mSRA.png" width="700" height="399">Studies have been conducted about different sports in different countries. The nuances of them are different, but the essence is the same: the core of online abuse is homophobia, racism, sexism, ableism, islamophobia, transphobia, and threats. These are listed in order of frequency of occurrence from the most to the least if you look at the situation as a whole. But in various leagues, different phobias and forms of discrimination come to the fore.<blockquote>“In recent times we have seen female athletes, those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and diverse cultural and multilingual backgrounds increasingly becoming the targets of unimaginable online abuse, hatred, misogyny and racism.” — eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Australia</blockquote>So, the EURO 2020 Final, ending with the English team losing and the Italian team winning,&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/58e4c303ca2197f5/original/FIFA-Threat-Matrix-Report.pdf">showed</a>&nbsp;an unacceptable level of racism among European and English fans. The African Cup of Nations 2021 Final highlighted fans’ homophobia. Misogyny and sexism traditionally accompany women’s competitions. The Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were the first gender-balanced (women’s participation was 49%), showed the highest level of sexism.&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/online-abuse-study-athletes-tokyo-olympic-games">According to studies</a>, 87% of all abusive online messages were addressed to women.<h2 id="is-it-because-of-social-media">Is it because of social media?</h2>Toxicity breeds toxicity. In the beginning, bullying is directed against athletes, then spreads to other fans, training staff, and athletes’ relatives and friends. Toxic comments and messages have no limitation period because they are posted in public accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media; therefore, they continue to get impressions and be shared.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*jCKtoMqioaPGVqH3Uz8GdA.png" width="700" height="828">You might notice abusive comments if you've seen sports clubs' and certain athletes' pages and accounts even once, especially during a match or after a loss. Also, you might want to pay attention to Twitter threads, which have become popular and reached the top.If you are not a social media user, you may know from traditional media that athletes and sports organisations have joined boycotts of social media more than once. In April 2021, the Premier League, the English Football League and the Women’s Super League&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56872469">boycotted</a>&nbsp;social media for four days because of persistent disregard for abuse problems. However, two months after the EURO 2020 Final, the English team faced a wave of abuse that prompted FIFA to take action.<h2 id="real=steps">Real steps</h2>Many people think that the reason for abusive behaviour on social media is anonymity, but it's not all that simple. Social media is not a space to be completely anonymous. After the bullying waves during the EURO 2020 Final, a lot of online abusers were called to the police.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*CZNd8OCS0KtSVI0RxQrV6w.jpeg" width="700" height="526">Gareth Southgate consoles Bukayo Saka, who missed England’s final penalty in the shootout ©AFPTwitter and Instagram remain the spaces where bullying breeds bullying, regardless of whether the identity of the authors of abusive threads is often fixed or easily revealed. Triggers for bullying can be a game score, a player’s mistake during the game, or even an athlete's photo on their personal account. When anything can be a reason, there are no reasons at all.Following research, FIFA plans to launch a moderation service to search for toxic posts across social media. According to the Threat Matrix company, the two-level check will allow them to solve complex cases (as with the Italian player whose nickname is Gorilla. In this case, the gorilla emoji is acceptable when it is a toxic marker in racism cases.<h2 id="pitfalls-to-avoid">Pitfalls to avoid</h2>Of course, this is not the first attempt to fight toxicity in online spaces. For example, in 2021, Xinning Gui, PhD at Pennsylvania State University, made a presentation at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. She shared the instruments used to struggle with abuse in the cybersport space and how players utilise them for personal value. For example, they flag game competitors, not abusers.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*Srxvvc0GGbQo3Kf_w9uHfg.jpeg" width="700" height="401">Sifan Hassan of Team Netherlands celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Women’s 10,000m Final on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Photo by Cameron Spencer / Getty Images via CFP)The dishonesty of some users is not the only pitfall in fighting online abuse. One tough case was the recent Beijing Olympics, where, along with the hate comments towards athletes, real censorship was applied to Internet users. So, many European athletes claimed they weren’t ready to publicly say anything about negative issues related to the Olympics until they left China. In general, the Chinese system for checking online messages is aimed at posts and comments expressing an anti-government point of view, not for checking abuse.How to find a balance? How do you create a trusted online space for comfortable communication, avoiding abuse, and still remembering freedom of speech?<h2 id="get-in-touch">Get in Touch</h2>If you are looking for a way to increase engagement and provide additional content on your website or app, remember the safety of your users. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your">Book&nbsp;a&nbsp;call </a>with the Watchers team, and we will be happy to find the best solution for your platform.</div>