Iowa State women’s basketball star Audi Crooks has a love-hate relationship with social media.

Sometimes she’ll scroll through her direct messages and find a note from a little girl who sees her as a role model and asks for advice or to take a picture with her after the next game.

Other times, the Big 12’s leading scorer will receive a message criticizing the way she looks, the way she plays or the way she acts.

“They’re missing the whole point of social media, of the internet, of being able to interact with us,” Crooks said. “I want to use my social platform for positive connections.”

With March Madness approaching and International Women’s Day on Saturday, Crooks and Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke are promoting healthy digital habits through their name, image and likeness partnerships with UScellular.

“I think making connections with people online can be very healthy,” Stuelke said. “There are a lot of younger girls who reach out to me and I get to respond and encourage what they’re doing. That’s the upside to social media, being able to mentor people and be a leader to people who may not have a leader.”

Online abuse of college athletes received attention last weekend when Kansas men’s basketball player Zeke Mayo shared screen shots of hateful social media posts directed at him after he struggled in a loss at Texas Tech.

An NCAA study released last fall found female college athletes are targeted for online abuse three times as much as male athletes. Among types of content targeting athletes, 18% was sexual in nature, 17% was general abuse, 14% was sexist and 12% dealt with gambling.

The NCAA said abusive content can cause targeted athletes to suffer from anxiety, depression, loss of confidence, panic attacks and in extreme cases can be a contributing factor in suicidal tendencies or actions. Most athletic departments have counselors to help athletes who are struggling to deal with online negativity.

“Most of the time,” Crooks said, “I try to just brush it off.”

But it’s not always easy to do, she said.

“For women in sports specifically, there’s just not many things that you can do without being criticized, whether you’re celebrating, you’re getting a little chippy. All of a sudden that’s out of line,” she said. “But if a men’s basketball player were to do the same thing, then they’re OK.

“From a social media perspective, it’s the opinions of, ‘Oh, she’s cocky, she’s this, she’s that. She looks this way. She appears this way. That’s not very ladylike.’ ”

Stuelke said she follows Iowa coach Jan Jensen’s advice to the players, which is to put the phone down and spend time with people who matter the most, whether it’s teammates, coaches, friends or family. When Stuelke does look at Instagram, she knows it’s possible there’ll be a nasty message waiting for her from an anonymous keyboard warrior.

“I think it’s important we spread the message that this is happening to us and that there are ways to handle it,” Stuelke said, “and that you aren’t alone if you are struggling with this.”

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