Does anyone else hesitate to compete nowadays because of social media?
I used to compete a lot, and back then a tournament ended when you left the venue. You focused on your performance, learned from it, and moved on. If a match got uploaded to YouTube, someone had to actively search for it.
Now it feels different. Everyone records everything, and a single mistake can end up as an Instagram reel, TikTok clip, or highlight video that gets pushed to thousands or even millions of people through the algorithm.
What bothers me isn’t losing. I’ve lost before and can handle that. What bothers me is the idea of becoming someone’s content. The tournament doesn’t necessarily end when the match ends anymore. Mentally, it can follow you around for days or weeks.
I’ve seen highlight reels where one competitor is shown getting submitted, knocked over, or caught in a bad position, and I can’t help but think about how that person might feel seeing it spread everywhere. Their coworkers, friends, family, and random strangers all get to watch them at their worst moment.
I actually reached out to some people who post these clips and said it could affect someone’s mental health. Their response was basically, “Don’t take it so seriously, everyone does it.”
Maybe I’m overthinking it, but it’s honestly one of the things holding me back from competing again. I still want to compete, but the social media side of it feels very different from what it used to be.
Am I the only one who feels this way?