As interest in women’s sports rises, so does the issue of online harassment faced by female athletes, particularly those in the spotlight. A report from The Net, a mental health support network for women in sports, indicates that 87% of female athletes experienced online harm in the past year.
To combat this, The Net has introduced a new tool, developed by agency BarkleyOKRP in collaboration with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. This AI-driven tool is designed to prevent players from encountering harmful comments while browsing their social media channels.
Currently in beta, the tool is available exclusively to Chicago Sky players. It works by detecting negative comments on players’ X (formerly Twitter) feeds and blurring them out. Each obscured post is marked with a banner stating “negativity blocked,” which aligns with the campaign’s slogan: Block the negativity, post up positivity.
Angel Reese from the Chicago Sky, who has experienced online hate during her time in the NCAA and continues to endure it in her first WNBA season, appears in a campaign video promoting the initiative.
Rony Castor, group creative director at BarkleyOKRP, remarked that the research and app development revealed the extent of hate directed at Reese on social media.
The campaign video features Reese alongside teammates Chennedy Carter, Isabelle Harrison, Brianna Turner, and Chicago Sky coach Theresa Weatherspoon. In the footage, the players confront negativity encountered online and respond by smashing the comments with basketballs, with their coach encouraging them.
The initiative debuted at the Chicago Sky home game against the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday night.
As the WNBA sees a surge in viewership this season, the increase in support also brings a rise in racist and misogynistic comments directed at players.
“The mental health of female athletes is significantly impacted by social media interactions, and with the rise in viewership, it has become increasingly difficult,” said Tania Haladner, CMO of the Chicago Sky.
Javier Valle, creative director at BarkleyOKRP, noted that many of the negative posts featured in the video are real examples of social media content.
“It doesn’t take long to find these posts, which are issues that female athletes face that male athletes typically do not,” added Castor.
Michelle Robles, social creative director at BarkleyOKRP, explained that creating the AI tool required collaboration among the agency’s developers, creatives, strategists, and community managers. They analyzed X posts about the Chicago Sky and its players, labeling them as positive or negative to train the algorithm effectively.
The team also incorporated various meanings and contexts of words and phrases to help the tool discern which comments to block or allow.
“We cannot eliminate the conversations happening online, but we can help by blurring out the negativity so players can maintain their focus,” said Valle.
The Net’s website tracks the number of posts blocked by the tool, which launched on August 15 and updates daily. Beneath the blurred posts, a carousel of positive comments about the team and its players promotes the aim of fostering a supportive environment for athletes.
According to Robles, the tool currently functions only on X and targets posts relating to the Chicago Sky and its players. However, she expressed the goal to expand its language capabilities for broader negativity blocking.
“Our aim is to extend this technology for use across the league and potentially beyond it on a personal level as we enhance the AI further,” she concluded.