U.S. Ladies [#19]: Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

[oleada]

The thing I find problematic is that it takes some effort to look up tweets people like, which says to me that a person is actively trying to find reasons to dislike someone.

It doesn't. If you follow someone, the tweets they like show up on your timeline. I follow some skaters (not Courtney) and what they like shows up on mine. If you go to someone's twitter page there's literally a tab called "Likes". It's no effort.

 

[Jarrett]

It doesn't. If you follow someone, the tweets they like show up on your timeline. I follow some skaters (not Courtney) and what they like shows up on mine. If you go to someone's twitter page there's literally a tab called "Likes". It's no effort.

So they are following her account to just get mad at what she liked when it shows up in their timeline? Or go to her profile randomly and look through her likes tab to see what they can get upset over? I am not sure I would qualify that as no effort. lol

 

[Maximillian]

It doesn't. If you follow someone, the tweets they like show up on your timeline. I follow some skaters (not Courtney) and what they like shows up on mine. If you go to someone's twitter page there's literally a tab called "Likes". It's no effort.

I guess, I feel like you have to be on Twitter a lot to keep track of people's 'likes on your timeline, and think that actively going into people's 'like' column speaks to an intentionality that I'm not comfortable with. I also feel like that person tweeting a PM exchange between the two of them is unethical regardless of whether or not 'everyone knows nothing on the internet is private' and I found nothing in Courtney's defense of her position to be worthy of vitriol--however much, I personally don't agree with her politics.

 

[olympic]

Personally, I don't care about Courtney's tweets.

If Beelzebub could reel off 3-3s and a 3A w/o a hitch, I'd root for him/her to make the US team and bring back past US glory.

 

[ilovepaydays]

It drives me insane that "Hallelujah" is used on Christmas albums or treated as religious. I don't think anyone has ever actually read the words if they think it deserves to be classified that way.

I bet they are the same people who thought Creed was a Christian band in the early 2000s.

—————
What makes me sad about Courtney is she is 21-22 and she will likely change at least some of her moral/religious/political opinions be the time she’s 25. And how she expresses them. And then there will be more change by age 30, 40, etc. I know that I certainly have through more life experience, getting more information, and thinking about things. And there are people who will judge her forever based on the misguided things she does with her views right now.

 

[skatingguy]

I couldn't find anything on Courtney Hicks' twitter feed that seemed objectionable that she had liked, retweeted, or responded to recently. I did find these disturbing tweets from other people directed at Hicks.
This one seems like a death threat:
https://twitter.com/Ieftbian/status/924341663409082368
And this is a sample of the more typical response people are having to her:
https://twitter.com/lesbianonice/status/924341824529018880

 

[Wyliefan]

The thing I find problematic is that it takes some effort to look up tweets people like, which says to me that a person is actively trying to find reasons to dislike someone.

That sort of thing does creep me out a little. I saw it recently on a Broadway message board when Lauren Ambrose was cast in the upcoming My Fair Lady revival, when many thought the role should have gone to Laura Benanti. A lot of posters on that board started ripping into Benanti because she had "liked" some tweets that criticized the casting, and they thought it was unprofessional and poor behavior. All I could think was, "Um . . . guys . . . you're keeping track of her likes now?"

 

[clairecloutier]

SMH at those tweets above in @skatingguy's post. You know, it's okay to disagree with Courtney's political beliefs or even decide you don't like her any more, based on her beliefs. But there's no need to be hateful or vulgar about it ....

 

[VGThuy]

The way I see it, likes are public and people know what they're doing when they publicly like a post. They're showing public support and are not ashamed of other people seeing what they like. Most of these people who actively tweet grew up on it or know Twitter inside/out so they know likes are public (unless they set them to private) and can be looked at. Hell, they themselves have probably done it for celebs they like.

That said, when it gets to the point where the person's mere presence makes you so angry to post the responses that skatingguy posted, then you really need to take a break from the skating fandom as it's not mentally healthy for you anymore. Also, it's one person's stupid opinion. I get political statements do matter especially for people who know people or they themselves are affected by such attitudes which leads to support of policies that will cause actual harm, but people like that will always exist and you shouldn't devote time to paying attention to it or at least get so angry that you posts responses like that.

 

[Deleted member 19433]

I don't spend much time on Twitter and I find it difficult to navigate.

But I don't think it's fair to say Hicks is like Skinner, the gymnast. Mykayla (and her family) is OTT with her persecution complex regarding her scores and team selection.

I've never seen Hicks complain about her scores on Twitter or retweet comments about other skaters not deserving their selection for International events. Nor has she photoshopped a pic of the Olympic team, replacing the last skater selected with her own picture.

So....feel how you want to feel about her opinions as you know them, but saying she's like MyKayla Skinner? No way!

LOL

In fact, IIRC, Courtney posted or said something very classy when she medaled after Julia Lipnitskaia became injured (or aggravated an existing injury) during her program at Rostelecom Cup and Courtney ended up surpassing her for a medal. Something along the lines of how she didn't want to medal that way and that she hoped Julia got well soon.

 

[Chris_E]

Per the tweets she 'liked' she is, as well as liking anti-immigrant, homophobic tweets and so on. But as I said, we all have the right to root for who we want.

Homophobic tweets when half the skating world is gay, as well as her choreographer, is kind of baffling to me.

 

[Sylvia]

In fact, IIRC, Courtney posted or said something very classy when she medaled after Julia Lipnitskaia became injured (or aggravated an existing injury) during her program at Rostelecom Cup and Courtney ended up surpassing her for a medal. Something along the lines of how she didn't want to medal that way and that she hoped Julia got well soon.

Yes, this was the tweet: https://twitter.com/courtneynhicks/status/794994588847063040

 

[Maximillian]

Homophobic tweets when half the skating world is gay, as well as her choreographer, is kind of baffling to me.

Did she post an anti-gay tweet? Did she 'like' an anti-gay tweet? Honestly, I looked at her 'likes' list and there are like over 4,000 and I didn't want to make the effort.

I get that 'likes' are public, though I don't think they're necessarily as intentional as an actual 'tweet' or 'post' and I say this as someone who 'likes' a lot of things. I just feel when someone starts looking through likes, there's a deliberateness to this act that speaks to 'looking for trouble' as it were.

 

[VGThuy]

A lot of people look through celebrities or public people's tweets and likes because they are interested in knowing more about them. It's like when people invite cameras into their personal life and people start following them on social media and want to know more about them and they grow a fandom. I think what happened with Courtney is that some skating fans were looking at likes to various skaters and then came across hers and then saw a few things they didn't like. Or maybe they saw something she re-tweeted that showed up on their feed and looked at her likes to see if she expressed support for other views like that just to be sure before they made a judgment. Then they told their friends, and then they told others, and then some reacted in a way where they became more openly hostile and confrontational about it.

As for your other question about her retweeting or liking any homophobic things, I just checked yesterday when this whole conversation was going on and I saw she liked something pretty transphobic and also tone deaf of the experiences of black people:

https://twitter.com/SyrOrangeJC/status/924028266796670977

Courtney actually liked some of the more negative comments. The last reply in the above thread where the person hashtagged #girlbye to Hicks was liked by Hicks. So she's pretty proud.

Anyway, I think Hicks is young and discovering her political voice and is enthusiastic about others whose views she shares. I think the ones responding to her are similar in age and also discovering their voices. So you have young people yelling at each other. This is pretty much how the 2016 election discourse was happening on social media except it wasn't just young people and some times people were positively reacting to bots.

 

[Maximillian]

A lot of people look through celebrities or public people's tweets because they are interested in knowing more about them. It's like when people invite cameras into their personal life and people start following them on social media and want to know more about them and they grow a fandom. I think what happened with Courtney is that some skating fans were looking at likes to various skaters and then came across hers and then saw a few things they didn't like. Or maybe they saw something she re-tweeted that showed up on their feed and looked at her likes to see if she expressed support for other views like that just to be sure. Then they told their friends, and then they told others, and then some reacted in a way where they became more openly hostile and confrontational about it.

I see, that makes sense. Since I never look at people's 'likes' I never thought about it that way. I guess it was the whole publishing the PM that left a bad taste in my mouth and suspiscion that there was a sort of intentionality to the whole thing.

 

[Chris_E]

Did she post an anti-gay tweet? Did she 'like' an anti-gay tweet? Honestly, I looked at her 'likes' list and there are like over 4,000 and I didn't want to make the effort.

I get that 'likes' are public, though I don't think they're necessarily as intentional as an actual 'tweet' or 'post' and I say this as someone who 'likes' a lot of things. I just feel when someone starts looking through likes, there's a deliberateness to this act that speaks to 'looking for trouble' as it were.

I'll admit that I didn't see these particular likes but I'd seen others that turned me off a while ago and I no longer follow her on twitter. Social media is public and people should be prepared for potential backlash.

 

[annie720]

A lot of people look through celebrities or public people's tweets and likes because they are interested in knowing more about them. It's like when people invite cameras into their personal life and people start following them on social media and want to know more about them and they grow a fandom. I think what happened with Courtney is that some skating fans were looking at likes to various skaters and then came across hers and then saw a few things they didn't like. Or maybe they saw something she re-tweeted that showed up on their feed and looked at her likes to see if she expressed support for other views like that just to be sure before they made a judgment. Then they told their friends, and then they told others, and then some reacted in a way where they became more openly hostile and confrontational about it.

And then Courtney had the audacity to skate well in the short at SC and finish ahead of some of their favorites....

 

[Maximillian]

I'll admit that I didn't see these particular likes but I'd seen others that turned me off a while ago and I no longer follow her on twitter. Social media is public and people should be prepared for potential backlash.

But should there be backlash based on unsubstantiated evidence? I'm not directing this toward you, as you've said there are other reasons you don't like her. But I wonder how many people are outraged about these alleged homophobic tweets who, like yourself have not actually seen them. Again, this is all fan stuff and we like and dislike who we are going to, but speaking as someone who leans pretty far left in their views, I don't think this sort of stuff does 'our side' any great service.

 

[BlueRidge]

One of the things I've always appreciated about Courtney's skating is that she seems plucky and determined. I think she'll handle her social media experiences just fine.

Except for threats, and I do regard the one with a gun as a threat. We are seeing so much of this out there. It has nothing to do with any political positions that our current social media climate seems to encourage such aggressiveness. I think that is a social problem that we all need to be concerned about.

 

[VGThuy]

I don't know what that person was hoping to achieve by confronting Courtney about it in that manner, but the fact that they published it publicly means they really were hoping to "shame" her. I agree that that's pretty despicable as much as I find a lot of Courtney's likes that I've come across these past few days despicable. I think in the end it'll only embolden her stances, but I don't think the person who published that DM cared about actually having a fruitful conversation with Courtney about her beliefs.

ETA: About the gun tweet, that went way too far, but for some reason Courtney "liked" it. I think she's been put into a position where she's either enjoying the negative tweets or taking them in stride and trying to have the high ground. Maybe this the most attention she's received on social media and somewhat enjoys it. I'm not making a judgment on her because I do think all people can be like that.

 

[BlueRidge]

In any case, I don't think there are any repercussions beyond our relatively small circle of internet skating fans, some will decide they don't want to root for her, which is just how things are when you make political views public, even just by "likes." I'm sure there are people who don't root for Ashley because of some of her outspokenness.

The only way there could be any larger fuss would be if she makes the Oly team. But even then, its probably not something that would go very far.

 

[Maximillian]

I don't know what that person was hoping to achieve by confronting Courtney about it in that manner, but the fact that they published it publicly means they really were hoping to "shame" her. I agree that that's pretty despicable as much as I find a lot of Courtney's likes that I've come across these past few days despicable. I think in the end it'll only embolden her stances, but I don't think the person who published that DM cared about actually having a fruitful conversation with Courtney about her beliefs.

ETA: About the gun tweet, that went way too far, but for some reason Courtney "liked" it. I think she's been put into a position where she's either enjoying the negative tweets or taking them in stride and trying to have the high ground. Maybe this the most attention she's received on social media and somewhat enjoys it. I'm not making a judgment on her because I do think all people can be like that.

I noticed this when I attempted to look through her 'likes', that she was 'liking' some of the negative tweets directed at her. Don't know what's up with that.

I do find it amusing that Courtney hasn't been mentioned on any of these US ladies threads in about a year and now she's got pages all to herself!

 

[BlueRidge]

Well she did skate really well at SC, and has shown she is in the mix for the Oly team!

 

[Frida80]

Anyway Amber’s up this week. Her very first Grand Prix!

Last year she showed a lot of promise with her great skates at Golden Spin. Unfortunately, nationals was lackluster and she had to pull out of JW for personal reasons. So far this season she’s competed twice and didn’t do well either time. She scored about 150 points with lots of errors. I can’t find any news about a reoccurance of her 2015-2016 injury. So I have no idea what’s happening.

My overly optimistic side clings to the belief that she deliberately failed at completions to get a GP slot, because they wouldn’t think of her as a threat. We’ll see on Friday.

 

[Vagabond]

If Beelzebub could reel off 3-3s and a 3A w/o a hitch, I'd root for him/her to make the US team and bring back past US glory.

According to , the USFSA doesn't regard Beelzebub as compatible with the family-friendly image it likes to market.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

What's going on here? Nothing about skating; only conjecture about skaters politics. There are other threads here to talk politics.

 

[Vagabond]

Skating politiks, skaters' politics, what's the diff?

 

[missing]

What's going on here? Nothing about skating; only conjecture about skaters politics. There are other threads here to talk politics.

All politics is local.

Skating is local.

Ergo skating is politics.

 

[Sylvia]

Top 7 ISU SB total scores after the first 2 Grand Prix events (180+):
11) 196.70 Bradie TENNELL USA ISU CS Lombardia Trophy 2017 15.09.2017
20) 188.56 Mariah BELL USA ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2017 21.10.2017
25) 183.94 Ashley WAGNER USA ISU GP Skate Canada International 2017 29.10.2017
26) 183.85 Angela WANG USA ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2017 08.10.2017
27) 183.54 Mirai NAGASU USA ISU CS US Internat. FS Classic 2017 16.09.2017
29) 182.57 Courtney HICKS USA ISU GP Skate Canada International 2017 29.10.2017
30) 182.32 Karen CHEN USA ISU CS US Internat. FS Classic 2017 16.09.2017

Top 8 ISU SB FS scores (114+):
8) 132.36 Bradie TENNELL USA ISU CS Lombardia Trophy 2017
21) 124.71 Mariah BELL USA ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2017
23) 122.37 Ashley WAGNER USA ISU GP Skate Canada International 2017
26) 122.10 Mirai NAGASU USA ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2017
30) 121.31 Angela WANG USA ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2017
33) 118.51 Courtney HICKS USA ISU GP Skate Canada International 2017
37) 116.14 Karen CHEN USA ISU CS US Internat. FS Classic 2017
39) 114.47 Caroline ZHANG USA ISU CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy 2017 23.09.2017

Top 7 ISU SB SP scores (60+):
19) 66.18 Karen CHEN USA ISU CS US Internat. FS Classic 2017
25) 64.34 Bradie TENNELL USA ISU CS Lombardia Trophy 2017
26) 64.06 Courtney HICKS USA ISU GP Skate Canada International 2017
28) 63.85 Mariah BELL USA ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2017
29) 63.81 Mirai NAGASU USA ISU CS US Internat. FS Classic 2017
33) 62.54 Angela WANG USA ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2017
34) 61.57 Ashley WAGNER USA ISU GP Skate Canada International 2017

Coming up:
Amber Glenn (GP debut) - Cup of China
Mariah Bell & Mirai Nagasu - NHK Trophy
Polina Edmunds - GP France
Courtney Hicks - Warsaw Cup
Karen Chen, Bradie Tennell (GP debut) & Ashley Wagner - Skate America
Angela Wang & Caroline Zhang - Tallinn Trophy
TBA - Golden Spin of Zagreb

 

[Bellanca]

Good luck to Amber Glenn @ the upcoming CoC!!