Sochi Problems. It’s the Twitter page causing a social media buzz, collecting tweets and retweets from across the Pacific Ocean. Centennial College’s Alex Broad, a Canadian journalism student, created the page Feb. 4, according to the Toronto Observer. He meant it as a joke, something humorous for a few people to enjoy.
However, his side project soon became a popular phenomenon, gaining more than 323,000 followers. Athletes at the Sochi Winter Olympics would tweet photos of the problems they encountered at the games, specifically their living quarters. But what started as poking fun at Sochi soon became a cultural commentary about this year’s host nation.
Sochi attendees tweeted pictures of orange-colored drinking water, fallen light fixtures smashed on the ground and the thousands of stray dogs wandering the city that were later exterminated.
Images of athletes’ living quarters for the games quickly started popping up. Photographs of bathrooms with two toilets right next to each other, hallways littered with empty plastic packaging and unfinished coat-racks emerged on Twitter.
Tweets saying, “I wonder if Miley Cyrus will allow the Olympics to use ‘Wrecking Ball’ as their theme song?” and, “For those of you asking, when there’s no lobby in your hotel, you go to the owner’s bedroom to check in,” aligned with the sarcastic mood of the page.
First World countries poking fun at others. What else is new?
Now don’t get me wrong, a bit of well-placed snark can go a long way. Tongue-in-cheek social critique has its place. But the #SochiProblems page is infested with it.
One of the most glaring problems with the page is that journalists and students of communication are supposed to report the facts to inform people, not just entertain an audience at another’s expense.
This page isn’t just fact-talking. It’s fact-mocking. It skims over the deeply worrisome issues that Russia’s conditions indicate. Communicators of any kind have the duty to respect all people, not just their people. Granted, Broad made the page for fun, not as a professional endeavor or for class work.
And yet, all students should be aware that whatever they do, especially on social media, can and probably will be tied back to them. How can a journalist be taken seriously if he is comfortable mocking the people in one medium that he is accountable to in another?
A second problem is that the Olympics are meant to unite people. While this goal cannot be perfectly realized because of basic human nature, the motivation behind it is admirable.
The Twitter page undermines the purpose of the games by uniting First World athletes against the host nation. Athletes are teaming up against Russia. Part of the Olympics is learning to respect the numerous other teams represented, but social media enabling athletes to share every detailed inconvenience of their stay promote only an attitude of disdain.
I’m pretty sure if these athletes were staying at a specific host family’s house, then most wouldn’t belittle the food and accommodations. But put them all together in a hotel, and derision is suddenly fine.
The page gave athletes a medium for sharing their struggles during their stay in Sochi. And nearly all the struggles related to living conditions. The dirty drinking water that grossed out American and Canadian athletes is considered normal; not necessarily acceptable, but still typical for those living in the area.
While Sochi spent a record-breaking $51 billion on these Winter Olympics, the facilities still weren’t ready. The problems athletes joke about so lightly online are real problems for Russia. While the website might seem harmless in itself, it does promote a dangerous mindset: one of entitlement. What should have sparked concern over Russia’s living conditions only ignited athletes’ worry about their own experience at the games. It’s a grave problem when the struggles of the poor are viewed as the hassles of the rich.