Coy Gibbs' death is yet another reason why social media sucks

I detest social media.

Sure, platforms like Twitter and Facebook, among others, are great ways to spread news and information. I’ve personally written nearly 30,000 posts over the last decade-plus because it’s the best way to let loyal readers and followers know what’s on my mind or what I’ve written, or simply just commentary on things happening in the world of motorsports and other entities.

But once again on Sunday, we saw the darkest side of social media, and once again illustrated why I hate it so much.

Less than 24 hours after his son, Ty Gibbs, won the Xfinity Series championship, we learned his father Coy – and Joe Gibbs’ son – had passed away in his sleep at the age of 49.

About 90 minutes before Joe Gibbs Racing issued an official announcement of the tragedy that has befallen the family and organization, I started getting tips on rumors that something either happened to Coy or Joe Gibbs.

This illustrates why I hate social media so much: minor, if not sketchy websites – including one that immediately was picked up by my spam/virus software (thankfully) – posted s*** (yes, I really want to use the full expletive, but I’m demurring here) – that Coy Gibbs not only had died, but it was how they “reported” the way he died.

I won’t glorify giving the names of the sites that posted this unconfirmed crap, but one said Gibbs died in a car crash (with the implication it may have been DUI-related, which was eventually removed from the original post), while another outlandishly claimed Coy died of a drug overdose shortly after returning to his Cornelius, N.C. home (a post that has since been deleted).

I am pissed at how “sites” like this can get away with posting such false and horrendous information when they didn’t confirm how they learned the so-called reasons, nor did they cite any legitimate sources.

All they did was throw s*** up against the wall to see what stuck, and to try and get themselves some false credibility and what to many of these sites count on the most for revenue generation, etc.

Namely, “clicks.”

There is a desire in modern-day journalism to get stories out into the public domain as quickly as possible. But unfortunately – and we’ve seen this happen far too many times not just in sports, but also in politics – the desire to be first doesn’t always mesh with legitimacy or facts.

They don’t care about what they do to families such as the Gibbs’. They don’t care if they write 100% total BS. They don’t care if they impugn the credibility or reputation of an individual.

They just care about being first and getting clicks from unknowing fans who believe these so-called "reports" are legitimate. I often wonder how the people behind these fake sites might feel if other sites or competing sites were to impugn those behind the fake news sites if they themselves suffered the tragic loss of a family member, like a mother, father, or child.

Or do they even care?

I’m not patting myself on the back, but one thing I’ve long followed – and one of the first things I learned in journalism school many years ago – is no matter what you write, make sure you can confirm it first.

To me, I’d rather be third or fourth or fifth when it comes to posting something, provided I’m No. 1 when it comes to accuracy in my report. I take great pride in being accurate because my name is on the story. I don’t want to be known as someone who lies or bends the truth or intentionally posts rumors just for the sake of getting “clicks.”

In short, I don’t give a damn about being first when it comes to writing a story – unless I have an exclusive story where I know I’m the first person to report it.

Rather, what is the most important thing to me is being totally accurate.

Nothing else matters.

And now once again we have sites that claim to be legitimate when they’re anything but, putting out information that is intentionally wrong and hurtful to the family, to NASCAR, and to pretty much anyone who works in the sport or fans who follow teams and drivers.

I cannot imagine the pain the Gibbs family is feeling right now. Joe Gibbs will now have to bury his second -- and only surviving -- son, having had to bury his first son, J.D. Gibbs, in 2019 after J.D. suffered from a horrible neurological disease, passing away at the far too young age of 49.

And now, in an almost ironic fashion, Joe Gibbs has now lost his only remaining child, also at the age of 49. Again, far too young. There’s something about that number: I can’t help but add one other NASCAR legend who left us at the age of 49: Dale Earnhardt, killed in a last-lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.

We likely won’t learn the official cause of Coy’s death for a while. But how he died doesn’t matter to me, and shouldn’t matter to others who are not members of the Gibbs family.

The big thing is Coy is no longer with us and we should respect both his family’s privacy as well as honor the life Coy lived, rising from being a football coach to a racer himself to eventually become co-CEO of JGR, essentially running the day-to-day operations as his 81-year-old father has scaled back in recent years.

Who will run the operation going forward remains to be seen. But for now, we need to mourn and honor what Coy Gibbs did in his far-too-short life.

While I will never stop hating social media for some of the s*** it puts out, I’m heartened by the fact Elon Musk will hopefully make Twitter specifically, and social media in general terms, a more respectable and accurate form of news and information transmission instead of the current Wild West environment of anything goes, regardless if it is factual or correct.

I didn’t really know Coy very well. I spoke to him a few times during his tenure with the team. He seemed like a friendly guy who knew his sport.

Now he’s gone. Again, far too early, far too young.

But hopefully, his family can take at least some comfort knowing he left the world feeling such an overwhelming amount of pride and joy after watching his son win the championship.

And as for the sites that speculated so wrongly how Coy passed away just to get some UNDESERVED clicks and notoriety for themselves, all I can say are two words: Screw You.

Follow AutoRacingDigest.com publisher/editor @JerryBonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski.