TSM's social media manager Duncan ‘Dunc’ Cox is apologizing for a tweet referencing suicide posted after the team took two consecutive losses in League of Legends' League Championship Series (LCS) and the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT). While the tweet was swiftly deleted after posting, it garnered thousands of views before TSM took it down, and prompted an immediate internal review and Cox's subsequent apology on Twitter.
The tweet in question came about as a self-deprecating joke, after TSM took two consecutive and substantial losses in LCS and VCT. This year's tournament series marks two firsts for developer Riot Games: the first LoL Championship Series after it was rebranded into the League Championship Series, and the debut of the VCT, the first official global Valorant circuit. TSM, previously known as Team SoloMid, participated in both as serious contenders, unsurprising given its history as consistent qualifiers for Riot's series of competitive tournaments. But despite that history, TSM didn't fare particularly well in either of this year's competitions, which Cox poked fun at with a tweet that he intended to be innocuous, but turned out to be anything but.
The tweet featured a well-known meme colloquially referred to as the “are you winning, son” meme, which feature a stick-figure father going into his son's room to ask the titular question, except in the iteration Cox tweeted, his son is hanging from the ceiling with his chair kicked over. The only caption offered by TSM is the single word "Sadge," a reference to a popular Twitch emote, and no other context. Cox would later claim that the tweet was made in error after it was hastily deleted, but not before thousands of TSM's followers saw and reacted to it. Cox went on to offer profuse apologies on his own Twitter account after the deletion, and TSM offered up a further official statement on Twitlonger, following an internal review that found no evidence of deliberate malicious intent.
While it is important to note that diligence and tact is paramount to any social media manager, no one is infallible and sometimes mistakes are made that are genuinely mistakes. That being said, it is a little strange that Cox wouldn't have noticed the son's position or the implications, because even with Twitter cropping, none of that is hidden. Cox didn't double down or offer a half-baked excuse, and profusely apologized for his actions, but a senior social media manager, especially for a Twitter account that has thousands of followers, simply can't afford to do "quick pastes" without careful scrutiny first, especially with memes.
Cox, to his credit, does seem to be genuinely apologetic for the error. But reactions among his followers are still mixed, which is to be expected with a topic as sensitive as suicide. A number of followers are understanding that the tweet may have been and most likely was a simple mistake, but hopefully Cox and other social media managers will remember that even after a faulty tweet is deleted, the reaction to it will last, and so will the memory.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted at 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
Source: TSM Dunc