The day I pulled out of covering Sheffield United due to social media abuse - Sue Smith

One mistake made me realise what it’s like to be on the end of a social media backlash.

Hopefully Caroline Flack’s tragic death makes people think a bit more before criticising others on the internet.

That extends to football, too. This week Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood felt he had to use Twitter to deny stories he had a fall-out with manager Garry Monk, saying the rumour mill was “out of control”.

If you speak to anyone famous in the media they will all have had some sort of abuse and there have been many occasions when my mood has been shaped by things I have read about myself on social media.

Twitter is good for receiving instant news, great interviews and important information, but there have been so many times when I have thought about coming off it. If I did not have it, I would not have felt like people hated me at times. It seems nowadays people feel they have to instantly pass judgement and “@” the person concerned into their social media conversation.

I might have an opinion on a topic or person that I would discuss with my friends or family but never would I find someone on social media and tell them what I think about what they are saying or wearing – and that is definitely the lower level of what I am talking about.

I would like to think in most cases people do not realise the implications, and hopefully what happened last week makes them think before they type. I have pulled up friends before for things they have written.

I might appear on television and afterwards I could have 10 or 15 nice comments on my phone, and one negative remark. That is the comment you remember.

A couple of years ago I was working for Sky Sports News doing a segment on the Premier League. We were supposed to be talking about Arsenal but there was a late change, so I was asked if we could dip into the Championship. I was talking about Sheffield United and how they played some nice football but for some reason I said I thought they needed a striker.

The prolific Billy Sharp, with all his accolades, had completely slipped my mind. It was my mistake, and I realised almost immediately but we had already moved on so I could not rectify it.

I didn’t think it was a massive issue but when I got off air and back to my phone I had loads of people messaging me saying “What about Billy Sharp?”

I got constant abuse for what must have been three weeks and deleted my Twitter app for a while.

It was mainly comments like “Get back to the kitchen” and “You need to sack this woman” with me and Sky copied in.

I felt horrendous, like I had just played the worst game of my career. I felt bad anyway that I had made a mistake but that constant abuse made it so much worse.

The next time I went back into work I was thinking, “I hope they don’t ask me anything about Sheffield United.”

I was constantly on edge and the next time I was due to cover a Blades home game from the ground for Sky Sports, I asked not to.

Even now, I still get stick from Sheffield United fans, and sometimes if they criticise another pundit they will tell them they are as bad as me, and @ me into the message.

For the majority of my playing career social media was not really a factor. I might have had a few boos from the crowd but when you went home, it stopped. If someone told me I had not played well it would be my family and friends, and it was constructive.

You do not need telling when you have played badly – you already know.

Playing the women’s game, even now, I do not think you get much abuse. But being a female pundit can be different.

When I speak about women’s football, the response is not usually too bad. I sometimes get accused of being really biased towards England.

Comment on men’s football, and I am seen as a female in a man’s game, but a pundit who has played at the highest level is a pundit irrespective of their gender. They can provide insight and perspective.

I like to hear male pundits talk about women’s football and I would not want all-female line-ups at tournaments any more than I want all-male ones at the men’s competitions. As far as I am concerned, if you are good at what you do, your gender is irrelevant.

When you have people telling you to “Get back to the kitchen” or telling you women’s football is not a real sport it gets boring after a while.

I do not mind people giving an opinion, because football is all about that. I like that interaction and that is what Twitter is for.

Sometimes it makes you think a bit more about your own 
views.

If the opinion is just that I am no good at my job because I am a woman, that is different.