In the age of social media, sharing information, videos and pictures have become quicker and easier than ever. But with all new platforms which promote social engagement, there will be those who abuse the privilege.
"Trolls" as they are referred, inhabit all forms of social media, in particular Twitter and these individuals are quick to abuse and insult others. Anthony Casey knows all about that.
The Cork goalkeeper endured a torrid time during the final of the Eirgrid U21 football final where he conceded five goals against Mayo.
Spectators where quick to jump on his performance online:
Christ, the cork keeper must have gotten great odds on Mayo at the start of the championship #gaabeo #CORvMAY
— Shaun McGinley (@S_McGinley) April 30, 2016
Cork keeper can't kick the ball or save it. One of the worst individual performances I've ever seen
— Finny Desmond (@finnydes) April 30, 2016
Cork keeper could not kick out nor take up a position to block the ball(the 2 jobs asked of him).Great performance by all others #EirGridU21
— D.R (@rochey91) April 30, 2016
Casey has since responded to the abuse on Twitter:
Made a mistake! Im human! I go to college, work and do everything that every amateur footballer does! Thanks for the support! #alwaysarebel
— Anthony Casey (@AnthonyCasey3) May 2, 2016
Speaking on today's Pat Kenny Show, Casey shared his experience of the game and dealing with online trolls.
"It [the match] was the worst experience I've had during my career," he began, "At the game there was about 7,000 people but unfortunately they were mostly Mayo fans. There was only about 200 or 300 Cork fans as opposed to the large Mayo support.
"There were a lot of people watching at home and from there it's very easy to judge. It shows just what little sense they have that they could throw abuse from just watching on."
Asked whether he could pinpoint just what went wrong in the game, the 20-year-old said that he couldn't pinpoint anything lacking in his side's preparation.
"As a team we did nothing different. We had our same routine, in the warm-up we were trying to get our head in the game for the final. For most of us it was probably the biggest game of our lives that we played... We've really gelled over the course of the campaign, we'll definitely been friends for life. We're like a family.
"But it just wasn't our day. I wasn't expecting it to be the worst performance of my career. Hopefully I'll get over it."
Casey was quick to point out on Twitter that he, like all other amateur athletes, must balance work commitments, perhaps college and their own lives as well as train and play in matches.
"We train two or three nights a week. If you live around the county you could spend an hour travelling just to get there. You could be training then for two hours by the time you tog out, eat something after and travel home again. It's a massive commitment that some people don't realise.
"The abuse was fairly bad and fairly heartbreaking. When you're playing in goal and you're isolated in the game it can be a lonely old spot at times. You have to be brave enough to take that position. I was expecting that people would talk about me behind my back, but as soon as I turned on my phone I was expecting the abuse I was thrown.
"There was a lot of people, there was some people I hadn't even seen until I read newspapers or saw it online... After that I said something had to be done. I'm only 20-years-old. I go to college and I've got exams.
"I had to play with CIT two days after the final and that was very tough. I even had thoughts of not showing up to the game. I was talking to some of the lads who were with me on the Cork team and they got behind me to show up and told me to prove all those who had abused me wrong."
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