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Vanessa Bryant said over the weekend that she and her daughter Natalia, 17, decided to ban Kobe Bryant fan pages from their feed because of the constant reminder of the loss of the Los Angeles Lakers legend.
What’s going on:
- Vanessa Bryant posted a quick note on Instagram, saying that she and Natalia decided to block fan pages because they’d often see reminders of Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant on their “Explore” pages.
- Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, died on Jan. 26, in a helicopter crash in California.
- Vanessa Bryant’s note read: “Thx so much for all the (purple heart emoji),” Vanessa wrote in an Instagram story on Saturday. “@nataliabryant and I have unfortunately had to block fan pages because it’s been really hard to go online and constantly see pics of our beloved Gigi and Kobe under every single square of our explore pages. Blocking the fan pages has helped change the algorithm. We (love) you all but please understand that we had to do this for our own healing not because we don’t appreciate your (purple heart emoji).”
Why it matters:
- According to Yahoo Sports, the decision to drop Instagram fan pages is “a very sad, but understandable reason for a move that might have bothered the fans running the accounts. The automated world of social media and algorithms is almost always clumsy when it comes to personal tragedy, and it doesn’t get much worse than the helicopter crash that killed Kobe, Gianna and seven others.”