Leeds uni student opens up about her experiences being trolled online

A Leeds University student is urging to think twice before we post hurtful comments online.

Author: Ellie KumarPublished 30th Jul 2018
Last updated 31st Jul 2018

A Leeds University student is urging to think twice before we post hurtful comments online.

Emily Austin is representing Leeds in this year's Miss Great Britain competiton and has been revealing some of the trolling she's experienced;

"Grown adults commenting, oh you aren't very pretty or you aren't going to win,

"And then you get to the final and Miss Great Britain is sharing things and complete strangers saying...

"She's not very pretty - she shouldn't be in it.

"Why? Who are you to say she's pretty and she's not?"

Emily is friends with Georgia Steel, a contestant on this year's series of Love Island - which ends tonight,

But as the stars of the show prepare to re-join the real world, are they prepared to deal with some of the things the public have been saying about them?

Well you only need to type in the words "love island" to twitter and thousands of tweets appear - but they're not all nice!

Singling out certain cast-members - calling them "snakes" or saying they're "fake", "plastic" or much worse...

Emily is concerned about the effects this sort of bombarding on social media could have on people - as she's experienced it herself:

"People really need to be mindful - and I think people don't understand;

"You write one comment and put your phone down, it's not affected you - it's not done anything, BUT -

"If I was then to pick up my phone and you see all these comments it does have an impact

"And although you might think you're being funny and you're getting likes you are actually upsetting people and I think about it all day."

Emily's hoping by speaking out she can encourage more people to think carefully before they post.

She's raising money for the charity MIND, as part of her work in the Miss Great Britain competition.