It’s up to WNBA fans to raise the roof (and the floor) of the conversation

Across certain corners of the internet, the complexity of WNBA games is condensed into highlights, bite-sized and devoid of context. Any small and forgettable moment caught on camera, a cutaway shot shown on a national broadcast, can live on as a GIF. And fan bases will reveal their big, big feelings about lists and rankings, and mistakenly view even the game’s biggest allies as “haters.

” Where it’s most accessible for people to gather for sharing their fervor, opinions and drivel, the WNBA discourse needs help. Because right now, the conversation sounds too much like the NBA’s. While those of us who try to live in a world outside of algorithms, we are fully aware that social media — and in particular, Elon’s echo chamber — is not a real place.

Even so, that app amplifies so much racket that it can’t possibly be ignored. The conversations sports fans are having in real life? For better or worse, they’re shaped by the day’s trending topics.

So, judging by the engagement over the past week, with the WNBA preseason schedule underway, the conversation seemed to be curated by the kind of fan who prefers their most cynical and angry desires to be served with a side of hoops. A clip of Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese “cooking” one of her former Chicago Sky teammates racked up more than 2 million views. Then again, the anti-Reese sentiment was equally as strong; a separate post that mocked her shooting stats from that April 29 exhibition game generated just as much engagement.