'After Liam Payne's death, it's shocking to see so much trolling'
Opinion: We have witnessed the shocking and dark side to a celebrity death, trolling
In the wake of Liam Payne's death, it's sad to see so much trolling.
At the age of 31, the former One Direction singer died after falling from the third floor of a hotel balcony in Argentina. His death was sudden and tragic, sparking a huge reaction from all corners of the world. Of the celebrities speaking out, fellow pop stars Ed Sheeran and Robbie Williams both made calls for people to "be kind" when paying tribute to the late pop star and they're both right.
While there has been an outpouring of love and support from his heartbroken family, former One Direction bandmates (Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson) and legion of loyal fans and celebrity friends, we have also witnessed the shocking and dark side to a celebrity death: trolling. The cruel words, often to bait people or deliberately spark a reaction, only take seconds to post onto the internet but their impact can be long-lasting.
Within 24 hours of Payne's death his exes Cheryl Tweedy and Maya Henry have become victims of online trolling where they have been targeted with horrible messages flooding their social media accounts. They're not the only victims of trolling in the wake of Payne's death as even the hotel and the late star himself became targets.
It seems unimaginable that someone could even be tempted to write such hateful messages to people who are grieving or make a celebrity's death a joke, and yet it is shocking that there are so many comments.
It leaves you wondering why on earth this happens? Anti-bullying charity Bullies Out say that trolling is born out of revengeful feelings, attention seeking, boredom and even for amusement, with some people targeting those who are successful and happy because perhaps their own life doesn't look like that.
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Hopefully people will listen to the call for kindness from Sheeran and Williams. Sheeran simply wrote "be kind". Meanwhile, Williams drew on his own struggle with drugs in paying tribute to Payne and made a plea for kindness to strangers in every day life.
One of the last things Payne did was out of kindness. He spent his final nights donating to GoFundMe pages for children with cancer and victims of school shootings. "I've always felt lucky for the position I'm in, my life aspiration was to be a superhero but I can't fly, I'm not a great mechanic," he said in a Snapchat video before he died.
"I wasn't affected by radiation and and I'm not incredibly strong. All I know is that there are websites out there to donate to sick children that need your help. It doesn't matter how small or how big the donation is, all that matters is you looking in that child's eyes."
With his seven-year-old Bear on his mind, Payne felt compelled to help sick children. "As a father it hits me slightly differently because I look at them and if that was my child I'd want everyone in the world to look at me and help me," he said. "And so the last few night I've been spending some time on GoFundMe, a fantastic website."
Against this backdrop of trolling, Payne's kindness to strangers in his final days really struck me. In the words of Williams, even famous strangers need your compassion.
For confidential emotional support contact The Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org