Web support for AB fans
by Thea Knight
Grief stricken kiwis can find solace in the web after a shattering All Blacks loss.
With thousands of depressed fans across the country many have found an electronic outlet for their feelings.
Some turned to social networks to express their anger over the loss. Numerous Bebo pages have been created to express anti-Wayne Barnes sentiment.
Barnes who was the referee of the All Blacks vs France World Cup quarter final was labelled “the man who cost New Zealand the World Cup” on one page.
This Bebo page had 766 members by the afternoon on the day of the game. There were pictures, blogs and pages of comments posted by members.
One blogger frustrated at those defending Barnes posted “if uv got nething positive to say about Wayne Barnes get off and make your own page! leave us to our hating over this blatantly corrupt game.”
Another kiwi online decided this should be a time of love not hate and offered his care and support via trademe. With a buynow price of $10,000 he promised sympathy for anyone in great need.
The seller promised to listen to the buyer’s rugby woes for at least three hours. The auction reached a bid of $200 before being withdrawn by trademe.
Online encyclopedia Wikipedia was not exempt from World cup frustration either.
One All blacks fan created a page for Wayne Barnes stating “He suffers from a vision-related disease which results in him being unable to see forward passes”.
Now as long as people aren’t logging onto youtube to re-visit the whole experience repeatedly then this internet activity could be take them closer to recovery.