Twitter has developed a reputation as a social media website where anonymous users can say terrible things without any repercussions. There have been examples of death threats and other negative comments, which WWE star Paige experienced firsthand. She received a tweet from a Twitter user that wished for her to be beheaded.
The troll posted a photo on Twitter that has since been deleted. The image showed a k-pop group standing in front of a guillotine with “wish you were here” and an arrow pointed at the guillotine. Paige didn’t lash out after seeing the image. Instead, she took a very different route for her response.
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“Wait so you wish death upon me? Well I don’t for you. I hope one day you finally build the confidence you so desire and become happy within yourself so you don’t continue to bring others down. Have a wonderful day,” she wrote on Twitter.
“absolutely disgusting and unacceptable no words on evil people with evil hearts and to say something like that is crossing the line but the best thing to do is ignore these idiots and stat postive (sic) and keep up the hard work,” one wrestling fan wrote in response to the tweet. Several others asked why this since-deleted tweet would be sent at a “time like this” in reference to COVID-19. Millions are stuck at home amid the pandemic, and some are choosing to spend their time sending death wish tweets.
While the reasoning behind the guillotine image was unknown, there were many that felt it was posted out of jealousy. Other Twitter users believed that this was simply done to belittle Paige because of her celebrity status. Although one user found a different option.
The account that tweeted the death wish actually posted a different message later in the day. They wrote “[Oh my God] paige noticed me [heart eye emoji]” in a separate tweet. When many fans saw this separate tweet, they viewed it as confirmation that the individual was only sending the death wish in order to get some attention of their own.
There are different options available for those receiving negative messages on Twitter. Blocking is one way to never interact with the account. They won’t be able to view any tweets or send messages in response. But they will know if they have been blocked. Another option is muting the account. This will silence it without providing a notification. Those that brag about “being blocked” will not actually know that they have been muted.
