Sonoma has plenty of opinions — this cannot be denied.
They range from something as small as an ice cream shop that wants to paint its front door pink, to something as big as the Rosewood Hotel that sought to reshape the view from the Plaza. It’s the sign of an engaged and connected community, one that cares deeply about every little change that happens in our vivacious Valley.
Sometimes those opinions are thoughtfully and purposefully expressed, giving insight and background to promote a healthy discussion on the issue. Others read like sniper attacks, intent on enflaming and dividing readers. Social media seems to be a hotbed for the latter, drawing the type of emotionally-driven comments that hit like a grenade, aimed at causing collateral damage.
We see hundreds of comments every week on our social media channels — the good, the bad and the banal. Then there are the hundreds of comments on local issues posted to Nextdoor, Facebook groups and Twitter. While some come from the same people again and again, these threads have many voices sharing their individual views.
As a news organization, we believe deeply in free speech and the First Amendment. Even when that speech is ugly and the antithesis of the type of discourse we hope to foster. Limiting viewpoints isn’t part of our purview — we follow the common practices of our industry by filtering out comments with dirty words or emojis, along with those that spread blatant misinformation or dangerous conspiracy theories....
Read Full Story: https://www.sonomanews.com/article/opinion/editorial-public-comments-before-social-media-comments/
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