CREATING SAFE SPACES ONLINE FOR THE IRISH DANCE COMMUNITY

By Julia Topper

Where does Irish dancing happen? In the studio, at the feis, certainly—and these types of locations vary wildly, from church basements to professional studios, university campuses and tiny side-rooms in Irish pubs. Irish dancing also happens— shared, negotiated, and circulated— over social media. Facebook groups, Instagram comments, and Tik Tok videos play an increasingly important role in our community. In a way we never have before, Irish dancers can share ideas that contribute to and influence the way we think not just of dancing, but also costuming and music. The Feis App, of course, is an example of this: in addition to supporting our fantastic community of feis musicians, it has significantly impacted how we access and listen to feis music at home and in class. Many dancers have become excited about the music they dance to in a new way—and accordingly share this excitement over their social media of choice.

Obviously, not all communication over social media is positive—in 2019, we are all painfully aware of the prevalence of cyberbullying and its devastating effects among children and young adults, but the seriousness of the issue warrants repeating here. According to the Megan Meier Foundation, students who experience bullying and cyberbullying are at increased risk for depression and anxiety and are twice as likely to attempt suicide. Additionally, over 60% of students who experience cyberbullying reported that it significantly impacted their ability to learn and feel safe.

As might be expected, the Irish dance community is not exempt from cyberbullying. The unexpected part of this comes from the fact that the majority of the cyberbullying in Irish dance isn’t over one of a dozen new apps on our smartphones, but through a very basic website that has been around since 1997: the VoyBoards. Other relics of the early days of the internet such as AOL Instant Messager and Geocities websites have long gone by the wayside, but the VoyBoards still stubbornly persist—why? This article explores anonymous social media, the devastating effect bullying in these forums can have, and calls for our community to once and for all turn our backs on the VoyBoards and work together to find new ways of sharing information in a safe space.

What are the VoyBoards (or VoyForums)? Run by a California based company called Voyager Systems, this website grants users the ability to set up and moderate message boards that allow anonymous posting. The subjects of these boards are far ranging, focusing on anything from fixing antique cars to beauty pageants. In the Irish dance community, the boards are often used to share information about upcoming feiseanna or ask questions about costuming and organization rules. However, right from their inception in the ‘90s, the boards have mostly become a hotbed of damaging gossip, complaining, and bullying.

This issue is not isolated to the VoyBoards; many recent apps have been developed to grant users anonymity in communication, though with different catches. For example, an app called Yik Yak, created in 2013, allowed users to create and contribute to anonymous message threads within a five mile radius—something that led to extreme cyberbullying at schools and universities. Although the company eventually developed technology that disabled the app on middle and high school grounds, harassment still flourished though Yik Yak on college campuses. Media coverage criticized the app for facilitating this bullying, but the app didn’t shut down until 2017, only after a drastic decline in users. There are dozens of anonymous social media apps, all of which have faced similar issues. One thing is clear: when people can hide their identities, they are able to express themselves in ways they wouldn’t offline. And while anonymity can help marginalized voices normally afraid to express opinions or dissent in certain environments, more often than not it has led to the bullying issues seen with apps such as Yik Yak, and websites such as the VoyBoards.

There have been many calls over the years to the Irish dance community to stop the harassment on the VoyBoards—the naming, gossiping, and bullying of dancers, teachers, adjudicators, business owners, and musicians is an issue that we are all largely aware of. So why is it still happening and how can we stop it? One of the reasons these calls have been largely ineffective may in part be because we have not heard the full story of how devastating the bullying can be to those it has centered on—people are afraid to publicly tell their stories for fear of further retaliation on Voy. It takes a brave individual to do so, and fortunately for us, current CLRG World Champion Jess Hindley is one such extraordinary person. Jess told us the story of the harassment she endured on the VoyBoards, and we share it here in full in order to better help our community understand the toll this type of bullying takes on our dancers:

Senior Ladies World Champion Jess Hindley shares her experiences of how comments made on VoyForum had a damaging impact on her life.

It really started when I won the All Scotland championships in February 2017 a couple of months before the Dublin 2017 Worlds. It was the first major I had won in four years, so I was over the moon to be back on top and didn’t expect the trolling I received afterwards in the run up to the Worlds. Most of the messages were insulting the way I danced and picked out alleged flaws in my technique and ability. However, there were also comments regarding my personal life which were completely disgraceful and not even worth repeating.

It felt like it was constant. As soon as one post died out, another one would be put up about me coming in at a different angle but I’m sure it was the same couple of people. There were many people on there that were defending me which almost made the issue worse because the posts could go on for days on end.

I would be the first person to be critical of my dancing but the things they were saying were just not fair. For example, one person posted a video from a parade of champions where I danced a heavy jig step that just happened to be mostly movement and toe work rather than rhythm, and began slating me for not being able to treble. They said my teacher had choreographed my steps like that because I can’t treble and because of that I didn’t deserve to be a World champion. It was one step out of all my dances! That’s just one example but there were many more about my technique. When I placed 2^nd at the Worlds in 2017 there were reams of posts on the UK message board celebrating my defeat saying “So happy JH didn’t win, anyone but her,” etc.

Over the next year the bullying subsided a little but still resurfaced every few weeks. As I started to win more competitions the insults turned from slating my technique to accusing me and my teachers of self-promotion. They called me “tacky” and “desperate” for posting pictures of myself after winning majors and championships. By this point I was kind of immune to whatever was written on there. I would still go on there to check what had been written but I was so focused on achieving my dream and all the lovely people who were supporting me that it didn’t matter.

A few months after I won my first Worlds in 2018, I competed at the American Nationals in Orlando. I had a very bad dancing day and fell in two of my rounds so there was no way I deserved to win and I was very lucky to still place 2^nd to an amazing dancer. Obviously I was disappointed with how I had performed, but we all have bad days, even World champions. A few days later I started to hear that a rumour had spread that when I fell over my arms were attached to my dress, basically accusing me of cheating! I don’t even know how the rumour had legs to stand on because there were hundreds of people in the hall that day that would have seen what happened and seen me clearly put my hands out to break the fall. Also if it was true I probably would have ended up in hospital.

The VoyBoards exploded with these rumours. One person posted saying my arms were sewed down to my dress when I fell. Another said that I had finger loops to hold on to. Another said that the stage workers had to roll me off the stage when I fell because my arms were attached to my sides. It was just ridiculous!

I tried to ignore it but it just would not stop. A week after I danced the posts were still coming so I decided to defend myself on my Instagram page. Luckily the photographers had captured the moment when I almost fell off the stage and the photograph clearly show my arms out in front of me ready to break the fall. I posted the picture to squash the rumours and eventually it all came to an end. It still upsets me to think that if I didn’t have that photograph some people would still believe the rumours and messages on Voy were true.

There have been many more comments over the years. It almost became an addiction for me at one point. I would check the UK VoyBoard every day for new posts and would always get a sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw my name mentioned over and over again. My teachers and my family could see that it was starting to upset me but they just supported me and reminded me not to let [the bullies] win. The type of person that would sit behind their phone or computer screen writing things like that are not even worth thinking about.

This kind of harassment and slander is difficult for anyone at any age and level of their career (dancing, teaching, or otherwise) to contend with, even a World champion. As Jess further explained, “Everyone told me to ignore them but you can’t help being at least a little bit upset by pages of nasty things about your dancing, your personal life, and your character. I cried a lot about it at first. I thought people genuinely believed that I wasn’t good enough to be a World champion and that other people were agreeing with it.“ However, because of her support system at home and among her dance teachers and friends—in addition to the many kind private messages she received—she was able to grow more resilient to the bullying, and was eventually able to walk away from the VoyBoards entirely.

Clearly, enough is enough. But how do we stop this? Many ideas have been proposed for how to deal with the VoyBoards: that we should attempt to hold the company liable through lawsuits, petition to shut down the boards, or flood the boards with “positive” comments that call out the bullies. But ultimately, these won’t work. First, the issue of liability of companies like Voyager is a huge hot button topic currently, with major social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter at the front and center of these discussions. Are service providers responsible for how users interact with their products? Although currently being called into question, in the U.S. (where Voyager Systems is located), Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act essentially states that these companies are not liable for what is published by users (although it should be noted that the protections are not limitless; companies are required to remove all criminal materials), which is likewise stated in the VoyBoard user agreement. It is a complex debate that draws on questions of freedom of speech, censorship, and social responsibility—a debate that will likely continue for some time.

Trying to shut down the boards or hold the company responsible is not a realistic option, so what is? Ultimately, we as a community need to decide to follow in Jess’ footsteps and turn our backs on the VoyBoards once and for all. There will always be bullies, even in the best of communities—it is a way that people try to gain power when they feel powerless, as well as attempt to deal with their own feelings of jealousy. But while we may not be able to eliminate bullying entirely, we can significantly reduce it. This type of behavior is fueled by attention, both negative and positive alike. When we respond to bullying on the boards in any way, we guarantee that the behavior will be repeated. However, if we all join together and stop using the boards entirely, we will stop providing an audience for the bullies—but it must be a full effort in order to work. Schools and businesses must stop using the boards to advertise competitions and products, and parents and dancers must be encouraged—in addition to first consulting with their teachers— to use other online resources for learning and asking questions about Irish dancing.

This is an opportunity for us to make a real, lasting impact and significantly reduce the likelihood of the boards being used as a breeding ground for hateful speech in Irish dancing. As we move into the oireachtas season, let’s come together and take steps to better our community and make sure that all places in which Irish dancing happens are safe and free from hate.