George North, the Lions wing, has revealed that a number of players in the tourists' squad have switched off their social-media feeds so as not to be distracted by abuse that might come their way.
North was criticised on the last Lions tour four years ago in Australia when he made a gesture to Wallabies scrum-half Will Genia as he touched down for a sensational solo 60-metre try in the first Test.
The Northampton wing was mortified by his actions, calling them "horrendous", and apologised. These days, players are open to far more widespread accountability and it can take its toll.
"You definitely hear it [the outside noise]," said North. "You can just log out, or log in. A lot of the boys are wise to it now. It's a good platform for fans but it's also a bad platform for fans. At the moment, I'm logged in. After Saturday, we'll see.
"It's like anything, it's what you read and how you read it. It's a busy time and I have more important things on my mind than reading all the [stuff]. "It's great to get all the support from the fans and messages, but it's not just me, it's the whole squad that are here to do a job and sometimes you have to switch on to that."
