Player manager Scott Lucas says social media is an avoidable trap that many players should step around.
In the wake of news Collingwood’s Alex Fasolo is taking a break from the game to deal with mental illness, Lucas says the added layer of scrutiny created by social media platforms can be hugely detrimental.
“Social media is not a great place for a lot of our footballers, let alone a lot of our youth growing up,” Lucas told SEN’s The Run Home on Wednesday.
“Some players use it really well and to their advantage, but generally speaking I think if you are going to err either way then don’t go on it,”
“It’s not the cause (of issues) but it doesn’t help.”
The former Essendon premiership forward said social media was a larger microcosm of happenings inside football clubs.
“If you dig on social media you can find good stuff and there’s plenty of bad stuff, but either way it’s fake. It’s irrelevant,” he said.
“It’s like the player who seeks feedback from coaches and he’ll keep going until he finds the one that tells him what he wants to hear.
“It’s another layer of scrutiny that if you seek it out it can work both ways."
Last week GWS ruckman Tom Downie announced he was walking away from the game to concentrate on his mental health, while a host of players are rumoured to suffer various forms of depression that often go unreported.
Fasolo will miss this weekend’s clash against Fremantle but is said to be some chance of returning for the Queen’s Birthday clash against Melbourne.