Without getting too moralistic about it, we as a society invest far too much emotional energy in social media. I have no problem with its existence - hell, I use it - but we’ve gotten to the point now where if it’s on social media, people assume that it’s true, or people overvalue things that they interpret one way, when who knows what the real meaning of the thing might be. Then these things take on a velocity and life of their own, and before you know it, Mark Zuckerberg is worth a squillion dollars because of a free product.
Annnnnnnnyway, that’s not the point. The point is that we saw today an example of the latter, on the Instagram feed of Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere:
At first glance, that’s a pretty sweet picture of Wilsh and his adorable kids, after Arsene’s last home game, hanging out on the pitch and enjoying things. Which is neat! I love it when players bring their kids onto the pitch.
But then you read the text he wrote to accompany the picture, and the following line jumps out at you:
As a new chapter is coming, we will embrace it together
Welp. Does that mean Wilsh, who just Monday was rumored to be signing a new contract, is actually going to see out his contract and walk? This got the internets all abuzz today, which is kinda funny. I mean, the very first line of his post was:
Proud of these two for the love they are showing for thier new little sister
I’m no expert, but the two kids in that pic appear to be about five-ish and three-ish? Maybe? Whatever the truth is, they’ve been the Wilsheres’ only two kids for a long time, and now they have a new baby sister. That’s a huge new chapter in anyone’s life, and also a reminder that not everything an athlete says, does, or posts is about their job.
Whether you want Jack to stay or to go, I don’t think this particular Wilshere Family Adorableness gives us any clue which way he’s leaning. This one seems to be for his family.