I often wonder what goes through some people鈥檚 minds when they post on social media.
Granted, my social media accounts are limited to Facebook and Twitter, and an Instagram account that I signed up for three years ago and never used. (I think it鈥檚 still active; I get email messages from Instagram all the time providing updates on the eight people who follow me on Instagram).
There鈥檚 also a Linkedin page that I signed up for, and allows people to see how long I鈥檝e been with the Mercury and Lifestyles, and how I spent two years writing sports for Weyburn This Week.
(Yes, someone thought it was a brilliant idea to pay me to watch more hockey. Some would call that enabling).
One of my duties with the Mercury and Lifestyles is to monitor the Mercury鈥檚 Facebook page. For the most part, it involves posting articles from our very active website, www.estevanmercury.ca, on to Facebook, where the Mercury has nearly 5,400 followers.
Then I check from time to time to make sure that nothing slanderous is said.
It鈥檚 rare that something is posted that we have to delete, but some people don鈥檛 realize that they can鈥檛 post on our Facebook page the things that they would post on their own Facebook page.
Unfortunately, it鈥檚 also rare to see people post intelligent, well-reasoned and lucid remarks on social media.
For example, after somebody does something stupid, or a crime is committed, we鈥檒l often see a remark to the effect of 鈥渟marten up, Estevan.鈥� Yep, like that one doofus or that one criminal is the epitome of an entire community of 12,000 people.
The people who make these statements should heed their own advice.
And you鈥檒l get statements that are inaccurate. Not slanderous, but wrong. If they would take the time to do a quick bit of research (you know, one to two minutes), you鈥檇 realize that what you said is wrong, and it shouldn鈥檛 have been shared.
(I know you have the time to research it. You had the time to type the post, and then in many cases, get into an argument over it).
Comments about Estevan city council and the City of Estevan and other government bodies are often inaccurate. Some people just can鈥檛 let go of their pre-conceived notions of council and governments.
If you would have read the article about city council approving property taxes and utility rates for this year, you would have known that they weren鈥檛 going up. You therefore wouldn鈥檛 have complained about a property tax increase on social media.
After this week鈥檚 Estevan Fair, someone made the comment about how it was the Estevan Exhibition Association鈥檚 decision to drop the fair from a three-day event to two. Yet a quick search would tell them that it was the midway provider who made the decision to go to two days.
The exhibition association had to go with two, because there isn鈥檛 an abundance of good midway providers in Western Canada in 2019.
In a perfect world, the fair and the rodeo would be on the same weekend during the summer, it would be one of the biggest parties of the year and we鈥檇 all have a great time. But it鈥檚 not a perfect world. And when you鈥檙e dealing with two very large touring groups, you can鈥檛 always get them together on the same weekend.
There鈥檚 one other social media group that drives me nuts: the Twitter taggers. These are the ones who will tag you in their tweets to get your attention. What they don鈥檛 realize is not everybody spends as much time on Twitter as they do.
Here鈥檚 a clue: you want to reach somebody? Call them. Email them. It鈥檚 more frequently monitored than Twitter. A quick Google search will give you our phone number and email address.
(I have to laugh to those who tweet celebrities or political leaders, like Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump. I think Canada鈥檚 prime minister and the U.S. president have better things to do than to respond to a tweet from someone in an apartment complex in Regina).
Do people think they look smart with their posts on social media? Do they think they鈥檙e debating in a way that says they should be taken seriously? Or are they merely looking to goad someone into a debate, and hope that this person says or does something foolish?
I made a decision a while ago not to get dragged into debates on social media with people who don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e talking about, or who can鈥檛 acknowledge when they鈥檝e made a mistake.
Unfortunately, if you鈥檙e looking for scintillating debate, social media is not the place to do it. Then again, it seems like there are fewer possibilities for intellectually stimulating discussions.
There are a lot of intelligent, well-reasoned people in this community, and on Facebook and other social media platforms. Yet social media brings out the worst in them.
A lot of good comes out of social media. It can be a great tool for helping others.
But some people need to expect better of themselves.
