Small portion of my FB post on CVRD zoning bylaw controversy & bad actors muddying narrative.
"I've never seen such mean & heartless vitriol directed at people who are just doing the work they are professionally trained to do at the directions of their respective councils/boards.
I struggle to see why anyone would want to run for local government or work in public service, especially the women whom have been sadly targeted, when seeing what is unfolding prior to this fall's elections" #bcpoli
@ChrisIstace very sad that this is the reality in local government. I strongly believe a lot of the blame lies at the feet of social media companies, mainly Meta and Twitter, that have completely abdicated responsibility for moderation outside the most egregious actions. At the same time, they admit and have been legally found to create addictive systems that encourage strife to drive engagement.
It has had a profoundly negative impact on our society over the past 20 years.
#BCMuni
@ChrisIstace that is one reason why i wanted to start #SocialBC... to return to the community-based social spaces of old where the spaces were grass-roots communities.
Moderation will never be perfect, but it can be done a lot better, and algorithms can be a lot healthier.
@chris for reference to those who are interested, here is the first of their articles working to end community confusion.
https://thediscourse.ca/cowichan-valley/whats-in-the-cvrd-comprehensive-zoning-bylaw
@ChrisIstace let's be honest though, we both know elected officials who don't always read reports and bylaws that they are deciding on. ;+)
Information sharing and education is always needed and relatively easy.
What is absolutely impossible is battling the network effects and behaviours encouraged by platforms.
We'll never put the social media genie back in the bottle, but hopefully we can make healthier spaces!
(and i don't think 'age verification' will help. 99.9% of commenters are 18+!)
Chris Istace
Chris Alemany