LITTLER SHUTS OUT TROLLS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA MOVE

LUKE LITTLER has taken steps to shield himself from online trolls by tweaking his social media settings.

World No.1 Littler runs his own Instagram account, where he regularly shares darts and football content on his story.  

The Nuke had just 4,000 followers when he burst onto the scene and made the final at Ally Pally in 2024.  

Two years on and 12 major titles richer, Littler now commands a staggering 2.1million followers on Instagram.

To cope with the attention, Littler has limited how fans can interact with him online.  

Instagram allows users to switch off comments and restrict message replies and the Warrington whizkid has made full use of those tools.  

It means he avoided much of the backlash when he clashed with Dutch rival Gian van Veen during a Premier League night in Manchester on April 2.  

Opening up on the realities of life in the spotlight, Littler said: “I am always on social media. I see everything.  

“But even before Manchester, you can just go on your settings and say you put someone in your story, people can reply to your story and it’s in your requests (section).  

“That’s been turned off for ages and ages. So people are messaging me and I’m not seeing anything. I’m just seeing when I’m scrolling.

“Like Gerwyn Price once said (about social media storms), 24 or 48 hours and it’ll be forgotten about.”  

The teen sensation currently sits second in the table and is two points behind Jonny Clayton after claiming a fourth nightly victory in Liverpool last Thursday.  

Littler returns to action for Night 13 of the major tournament in Aberdeen when he takes on Josh Rock.

Image by Taylor Lanning.