Jordan Poole: 'Those who don’t have confidence are probably the ones who are hating'

During the Christmas holiday he donated bikes, helmets, and skateboards to children in Washington. In January, Poole presented a customized bobblehead to Virginia Ali, co-founder of Washington restaurant staple Ben’s Chili Bowl, at her 90th birthday celebration. -via Andscape / March 16, 2024

Social media can be good for connecting with friends and family or for business purposes, he said, but it can also be a toxic cesspool. Poole said he recalls reading a story about how negativity proliferates on social media. He couldn’t recall the story, but a 2021 Washington Post piece found that from 2016 to 2020 Facebook’s algorithm prioritized content that elicited “angry” emoji reactions, thus in a way encouraging users to post content that made people angry or upset. A 2021 Harvard Business School study found that negative tweets were more likely to be shared on Twitter than positive ones. “We’re just in an era where we’re attracted to the negativity,” Poole said. -via Andscape / March 16, 2024

Consider the long-running meme that Poole seems to bring out his best handles and layup packages when attractive women — or, baddies — are sitting courtside. Selectively edited videos make Poole look distracted during games. Poole’s aware of the meme. He laughs at it, but he knows it isn’t true. He also understands there’s nothing he can do about it now, so no point in debunking it. “Just think about that. That right there shows me that this is all — it’s out of my control,” he said. -via Andscape / March 16, 2024