WWE: Nia Jax and the importance of self-care in the social media age

WWE Superstar Nia Jax has inspired countless individuals, especially women, by encouraging actual body positivity and fighting the trolls. But even the most inspirational figures need to be able to take some time to focus on themselves instead of putting themselves out there to the world on social media.

By now, you may have seen that WWE’s Nia Jax has deleted her Twitter account. She’s still on Instagram, where she posted an Insta Story about being glad she decided to be “more lowkey” and focus on herself.

But instead of covering Jax’s departure from Twitter properly by centering the need for public figures to create spaces for themselves, some wrestling sites and fans have decided to make this an angle about her removing references from WWE.

Like, seriously? You want to make this about some AEW-charged “Nia mIgHt bE leaViNg” nonsense? Shame on you.

The real story here is that social media is draining, and Twitter seems to be the most negative of all the platforms. Facebook has his problems – what with your crazy Uncle Ted’s rants and all – and Instagram isn’t absolved in all of this either. (Some of those “fitness” accounts … yikes!)

But there’s something especially scary about Twitter, specifically Wrestling Twitter. There’s more anonymity, even less accountability than normal on social media, and a whole lot of hatred spewed at people, especially powerful women like Nia Jax who are in the spotlight and actively actually doing positive things to make this world better.

Remember that time Nia called out WWE for not featuring Women of Color more? I remember that, and I also remember some of the tweets the bigots were sending at her. I also remember her own colleagues, namely Shawn Spears (fka Tye Dillinger) reacting unsupportingly. Dillinger even tried to fuel more hatred towards Jax by telling her to “work on her craft”, as if she isn’t constantly in the process of improving as a professional athlete.

This is but one example of the issues Jax has had to deal with on social media. Despite uplifting her fans, interacting with them, and doing plenty of media appearances centered around feminism, anti-bullying, and anti-body-shaming/fatphobia, others have done their “best” to try and tear her down. It’s bigotry, it’s jealousy, and it’s shameful.

And Nia Jax doesn’t have to deal with it or feed into it, regardless of whether others want to start weird rumors or yell “But she’s a public figure” as if that makes her any less human.

Self-care is No. 1, and more people are starting to realize how important it is. Social media is objectively harming us psychologically by exposing us to negativity, whether it’s explicitly insults directed at us by bad-faith trolls starting fights with no consequences (Twitter, please start actually banning awful people!) or implicitly caused by us comparing ourselves to others’ so-caled “highlight reels”.

Nia appears to be taking time for herself. She’s recovering from TWO torn ACLs (what an absolute bad-ass she is, by the way) and is a former women’s champion on the road to potentially popularizing intergender wrestling in WWE when she returns, based on her work at the Rumble.

Maybe we should all take a page out of Nia’s book from time to time. Deactivate from social media, unwind, and focus on ourselves and the people who truly matter to us – not a bunch of nameless, faceless avatars who derive pleasure from inflicting emotional harm or inciting real-life violence via social media.

Jax is taking care of herself in the social media age, just as I have done and many of my close friends have over the years. And I wouldn’t mind seeing more public figures, including WWE superstars, doing the same.

They already have to do so much in a grueling sport that requires performing 300 times per year with no arranged travel, no offseason, and a need to work out and meal prep in between. Nia’s deactivation from Twitter is another reminder to us fans: Be kind out there and love each other. We don’t have nearly enough compassion and empathy in this world.