The value of the internet is ever-present in contemporary conversation. We debate, espouse, and contend how it contributes to our well-being as humans. We are indeed moving towards an increasingly digital age. This is a boon in many ways. Internet-based communication connects different corners of the world. It is easier than ever to converse with someone with a wildly divergent lived experience than your own through digital communication. Sharing communication in this way helps us to examine and adapt our worldviews, enabling us to trend towards a more inclusive sense of compassion for others. Furthermore, subcultures and minority communities can often find safe spaces in which to form ties in digital space, especially when it may not be safe to do so in real space. Additionally, many universities now offer high-quality online classes, making higher education more accessible for not only students with disabilities, but for anyone who is unable to attend classes in a traditional setting. This increase in educational access then arguably increases the desire to have the aforementioned challenging and global conversations with those who are different from us.
 
The internet has changed the nature of global infrastructure, commerce, and politics, all of which vastly impact our daily lives, even without factoring in any consideration of how artificial intelligence continues to develop alongside us humans! In the athletic sphere, coaching services are now broadly accessible online. Nutritional guidance, sport-specific programming, and team community are all to be found in virtual space using digital technology. There are myriad positive elements of the digital age, of increased access to the internet, of the virtualization of the human experience.
 
There are also numerous negative components of this virtualization, of this human-digital interface we experience in our daily lives. The neurological effects of growing up in front of screens, the social effects of forming friendships in virtual space before we form them in real space, and the personal effects of comparing ourselves to how others represent themselves on social media are all topics of both research and conversation. Arguably, the anonymity of the internet has played a critical role in the omnipresence of online bullying, especially among adolescent populations. There is no advent of contemporary society that does not have both its harmful and helpful sides, it would seem.
 
Within this context, let’s consider how the internet impacts the world of sport, specifically that of weightlifting. As athletes, coaches, and supporters, how do we use this digital tool for better and for worse? To commence on a positive note, the internet allows more people, athletes or otherwise, to engage with sport. Meets and games are often broadcast online, enabling people to follow both their favorite sports and discover new ones. Sport governing bodies have strong online presences, recruiting athletes and funding which enable those sports to grow. Fan fora and social media accounts engender connections among spectators and highlight exceptional athletes. Virtual space also offers a safe way for alternative voices to speak up, with accounts that highlight the accomplishments of otherwise underserved and under-recognized athletes, such as queer and trans athletes, women of color, those coming from backgrounds of poverty, and others. Indeed, this last use of the internet is one of the most positive, equitable, and necessary ones of our contemporary society, both generally and pertaining to sport.
 
I will repeat that: That the internet offers a safe space for underserved and under-recognized groups to create community, engage with dominant culture discourse, and highlight our accomplishments is one of its most necessary and meaningful uses.
 
Beyond this, the internet does offer new methods for athletes to access coaching. Remote coaching, websites offering programming, and one-on-one nutritional counseling are all readily available online and made use of by serious athletes, especially in sports such as weightlifting. Before relocating to be near my current weightlifting and nutrition coaches, I myself was a remote athlete who followed programming, exchanged videos, and logged my macros using the internet. I love living near my gym, seeing my coaches frequently and training with my team, but I also appreciate that I was able to make progress on my own in a rural part of New England in advance of relocating. (I also recognize my privilege in that I was able to secure a job close to my coaches and move without needing to consider life obligations beyond finding an apartment of which my dog approved.)
 
One of our gym rules, now that I train in-house with my coaches, is no phone use (except where you may be using it as a tool, such as a calculator or to video your technique). The simple principle behind this is that your focus should be on your training, not on the digital world beyond the gym. I love this, and I love that our gym culture is built around the notion of taking training seriously and respecting those around you. Indeed, this phone rule is embedded in a broader gym culture that is the most positive I’ve ever experienced, where I feel safe as a queer person and validated as a serious athlete.
 
In my perpetual search for other athletes who engage with their sports ethically, portray themselves admirably, and who represent and uplift the other, I have found both strong role models and strong critics. Herein lurks one of the most insidiously negative aspects of the interaction between sport and the internet. Elite athletes, especially weightlifters, who seek to promote themselves are often faced with absurd and cruel criticism leveled at every facet of their personhoods. (I will leave a discussion about the gendered nature of these criticisms for another discussion, but it is rich territory that should be explored.) It seems that weightlifters face the impossible task of being super-human, modest, vulnerable, strong, lean, engaging, appropriately emotive, and more, all at once. Yes, these are all elements of the human experience, and athletes (as we are humans) are allowed to be all of these things if we wish. But it seems that for elite athletes (which I am not) displaying any combination of these traits without a perfect amalgamation of diplomacy and delivery elicits harsh and unnecessary criticism of them as humans. This criticism can be instantaneous, such as an immediate comment offered on a social media post, which then invites further comments from fans, other critics, coaches, and often the athletes themselves.
 
In short, it seems that elite weightlifters are expected to be perfect in every moment. This yearning for perfection is already an element of our highly technical sport, which is then intensified by the addition of the internet. The cult of personality that can build around engaging or interesting weightlifters opens the door for these athletes to be judged as humans, not merely as athletes. In many ways, this can be good. Transparency in sport can help to highlight problematic practices ranging from doping to sexual assault to simply being a foul person. However, I feel that such concerns are often drowned in the mire of nasty comments to the tune of “she looked better a weight class down.”
 
This is all nonsense. Let the internet be the positive tool it can be, a place to create community, grow, and highlight your triumphs. Let it be a method for coaches to connect with athletes and for athletes to find support. Let it be a leveler that calls to attention those previously left unseen, as well as shedding light upon those whose practices are harmful. Let it even be a place to find weird song mashups to play during training. But for those who use it primarily as an persecuting and anonymous way to comment on the humanity of others, knock it off. Put your phone away, put your head down, and focus on your own platform instead of on those of others. Take what you do seriously but yourself lightly, and try to lift up others along with your weights.