Galway star Joe Canning says social media is an aspect of life to which he had to become accustomed, describing Twitter as “kind of a free-for-all”.

There have been countless cases of criticisms of elite athletes’ on-field performances going too far on social media, especially in recent times.

Speaking on The Connolly Motor Group Podcast last week, Canning said that “it's not the best place to look” after a bad result or off day.

"It was a lot easier," said the 2017 Hurler of the Year when reflecting on life as a hurler before social media grew into the phenomenon it is today.

"That's just life. People say 'why are you on it if it affects you?' But everybody is on it. You're not just on it for GAA circumstances or anything like that. You're on it because it's a social thing now, people seem to communicate more that way unfortunately than any other way.

"When you're doing well, it's good to look at social media. But when you do bad, it's not the best place to look at straight away.

"Everybody seems to have an opinion. It's like, I saw the other day, Ricky Gervais on Twitter actually, he was saying 'you don't have to have an opinion on everything'. It's like going into a town park and you see guitar lessons [advertised]. You don't ring up the person and say 'I don't want guitar lessons'! It's none of my business. Sometimes you have to keep your own opinions to yourself. It doesn't really relate to you.

"Unfortunately, the way Twitter especially is gone, it's kind of a free-for-all, and everybody thinks they know you."

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