Holy shit, the internet can be a disgusting place. It’s the place where people are free to vomit whatever horrible bile they have inside them without fear of actual consequence. It’s a place where racism, xenophobia, and all-around hatred is rampant. And perhaps worst of all, the internet is a place where all that bile gets amplified and spewed out at exponentially higher volumes. Case in point: Jesse Mendes and Mikey Wright’s little spat.
The argument was basically nothing—Mendes was mad because he felt Wright was being a wave hog. Mendes dropped in on Wright. Mendes and Wright had words and a couple of little shoves. No punches were thrown, no knives were pulled, no shots were fired. Sure, it was a little immature, but we’ve all been there. To hear the collective commenting community tell it, though, it was cause for death threats. And there were plenty of them. One only needs to look at the comments on @mikeywright1 and @jesse_mendes for proof. Be warned, though: it’s like looking at a car wreck made up of the worst parts of all of us. But while the internet is busy waging war, Wright and Mendes are busy burying the hatchet.
Jake Paterson posted the clip on his Instagram page for a few hours before pulling it down due to the volume of truly awful comments from both sides of the arena. We re-posted it here, as did many other outlets. A little shoving match between competitors and Quik teammates—nothing too big, just a short blip in the neverending stream of content available on your screens. It quickly turned into something of a different beast, though. Soon, Brazilians, Australians, and others weighed in, and most of it was just pure trash.
Social media warriors hidden behind the safety of their screens said things that they would never say in real life. Were you one of them? Because if you were, it’s probably time to take a look in the mirror. Take a few breaths and go for a surf or something. You’re making surfing worse.
