Commentaries: Two points of view on online invective

Diplomacy would advance the digital debate

By John StephensResidents of Costa Mesa have ample opportunity for social media commentary.

Some Facebook groups are devoted primarily to Costa Mesa (Sandbox, Public Square.) Geoff West’s blog, A Bubbling Cauldron is a chronicle of events and issues in the city infused with West’s lively point of view. Councilwoman Sandy Genis has her own blog, La Femme Wonkita. Nextdoor is popular in many neighborhoods, especially on the Eastside. The Daily Pilot’s webpage also generates much local commentary.

These outlets have the capacity to bring our community together. But too often the tone and content of the comments drive people further apart. Threads devolve into personal attacks, pejorative labels (“haters”) and mindless catchphrases (“the brand is strong”).

Such comments do little more than bait the reader. They offer heat but no real light on the many important issues we face, such as diminished police staffing, proliferating sober-living homes, competing uses for Fairview Park, homelessness and underfunded pensions. Communication about the substance of these issues yields to ad hominem rhetoric.

Are we better off because of local social media commentary? I’m not so sure. Some statements uttered on comment threads would be said in person by only those with extremely quick ducking reflexes. The keyboard seems to inspire foolish bravery. People childishly block and kick each other off Facebook groups.

All the while, our precious time is forever squandered by participating in pointless threads that can number hundreds of comments and span several days.

The lack of civil discourse on local social media is multi-partisan. My political allies give as good as they get.

With some limitations, such as defamation and death threats, we have the First Amendment right to lash out at each other as disrespectfully as we like. There must be some fleeting self-satisfaction in delivering a hurtful zinger to that total jerk on the thread.

But who is really served? No one is persuaded. Our problems are not solved. We just become more defensive and alienated, and our circle of influence continues to shrink.

To have any hope of influencing or inspiring one another, we must make some attempt at empathy and avoid the pervasive belittling and taunting. There’s room to disagree without making mortal enemies. Failing that, at least we can adhere to the Godfather’s advice to keep our friends close and our enemies closer.

Increased civility could also lead to unexpected connections. For instance, Orange County Register columnist Jack Wu and I became friends while he was covering the 2012 Costa Mesa City Council election. We disagree on politics but agree on most everything else, usually over a cigar.

By restraining our worst impulses on social media, perhaps we can help resolve the important issues over which we disagree.

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Removing anonymity from comments was a startBy Jack Wu

I’ve had the great fortune (figuratively, of course) to write about Newport Beach for about eight years now, since I lost the 2006 City Council race.

Because of that, I’ve been called a loser, full of sour grapes and just looking for something to criticize about the Newport Beach “Dream Team” council members.

The 2014 City Council election saw three of those members leave and an incumbent mayor lose.

So what is there for me to write about anymore right?

Well, fortunately when I started writing a column for the Daily Pilot in 2012, my then-editor John Canalis “forced” me to write about Costa Mesa also.

So I did. And boy was my feedback hard-hitting in the comments sections.

But back in those early days, the Daily Pilot allowed the commentators to stay anonymous.

And those vitriolic comments came fast and furious.

But honestly, most of the things people called me from the safety of their pseudonyms weren’t too far off.

Am I stupid? Some might say that I am.

Am I a horrible writer? Well, Canalis might agree with that.

But at least there weren’t names and pictures behind those comments. At least I didn’t know their real names, so when I would see them at the Feet to the Fire Forum, and they would introduce themselves to me after asking, “Are you Jack Wu?” I wouldn’t cringe knowing what’s coming.

All that changed later in 2012, when the Daily Pilot, along with other local publications and blogs, went to Facebook as a way to moderate comments.

The belief was that the comments wouldn’t be as terrifyingly horrible if you had to identify yourself and have your picture next to your name.

And for a while it worked. Instead of strings of comments by angry anonymous people hurling personal insults at me, City Council members and each other, the comment sections shriveled to a few pleasantly placed observations.

But slowly, people got more and more comfortable with letting their feelings be visible. Slowly, people got back into the groove of hurling insults and personal attacks at each other.

And the hostility and furiousness of the comments are not just on the pages of the Daily Pilot. They are also all over my feed on Facebook now too, because I happen to be friends with folks on both sides of the “battle.”

But while I got involved pretty frequently in the beginning with those long threads of hatred and insults, now I just look at them as amusement, especially when a newbie tries to chime in on Costa Mesa politics, like Assemblyman Matt Harper once did.

And when a newbie tries be reasonable, it’s almost like fresh blood to the veteran commentators, who just rip him or her apart with personal insults, criticisms and vitriolic attacks, the likes of which the person has probably never seen before.

But the danger now is that there’s now a face and a name behind them.

The lines of battle in Costa Mesa aren’t hidden. Nope, now I know exactly who my attackers (and likers) are and what they look like.

So when I do see them at some forum, I’ll be expecting them to call me creepy, stupid and an idiot right away — instead of hearing it as I walk away.

Attorney JOHN STEPHENS, a Democrat, is a former Costa Mesa City Council candidate. Accountant JACK WU, a Republican, is a former Newport Beach City Council candidate and a former Pilot columnist.