Dodge City Irondequoit Style

The blogosphere can be a rough place. Just take a look at the Democrat and Chronicle’s town blog for Irondequoit. It is a veritable Dodge City of verbal bullets and brickbats flying from every direction. My sympathy to Joanne, the long suffering moderator or any innocent reader who might pop in to see what people in Irondequoit think about current topics. Almost any posting for the last 6 months that includes mention of town government is accompanied by a large number of comments that I have to call both ridiculous and appalling.

Everybody has the right to opine. Blogs are a terrific way to publicly collect and share opinions. They are a great example of how information technology can create completely new ways to communicate effectively. When I first visited I’d spot a blog topic that concerned town government with 50, 100 or 150 comments and I would think that a constructive and informative discussion of the topic was happening. Not anymore. By now I have learned that what is usually happening is a nasty, mean spirited exchange of thinly veiled insults, threats and other weirdness between a handful of folks, many clearly emboldened by hiding behind pen names, who quickly veer off the posted topic and return to a few tired old rants and bitter accusations. Often the commenters have laughable factual errors or gross misunderstandings that all the other cranks who agree with them amplify into fact. Joanne valiantly strives to keep order and a sense of decorum but it is an uphill battle. One can only guess but I can’t see how this wouldn’t make a terrible impression on anyone who reads it.

Yes, there are some folks who try to take the high road. Even some town government staff will occasionally post comments to explain a policy or situation. But the vast majority of comments are from this small group of folks who drag the level of discourse down to the basest level. I can discern no single party or interest group at fault. It seems to come from all portions of the political spectrum but it is truly an unfortunate situation. I haven’t looked exhaustively but I don’t see this volume of downright meanness on the other town blogs. Even a potentially explosive subject like religion and public prayer was discussed on the Greece town blog with much more civility. Why so mean here?

Am I exaggerating? You be the judge. Here are a few examples. You’ll find many more just by looking at the comments attached to town government stories on the Irondequoit blog in the last 6 months or so.

1. On July 21st Joanne posted a query about the dump type area near the I-590 and Route 104 junction. Note how quickly the comments became a series of accusations and attacks. By the evening of the 24th the same few cranks were posting minute by minute insults into the wee hours of the morning despite the repeated requests of the moderator to stop. The next day they started right up again. Childish and useless to anyone seeking rational discourse.

2. How about the comments on this July 5 post about the 4th of July parade? Who knew that the Fairport Savings Bank was a force for evil? At the library we are usually quite happy when we can get a sponsor to help pay for something. This is usually done by giving that sponsor some high visibility as a thank you for the assistance. Again, it doesn’t take long for the same handful of crackpots to start a week long mean fest over a seemingly innocent event.

3. This is my favorite. The feel good news in the July 17th post about the library being awarded a large grant is quickly dampened by the comments which become a forum for the usual grouches. Nothing like accusing the library staff of inventing the roof leak as a publicity stunt to achieve a new low. We actually had a good laugh here imagining ourselves on the roof in the dead of night with our electric drills. The phenomenon of blog anonymity leading to boorish behavior is nothing unusual anymore but this is rock bottom.

The most regrettable thing in this whole bunch of ugliness is that a tool that reasonable people could be using for the rational and constructive exchange of ideas has been hijacked by a handful of unfortunate souls who cannot resist trying to have the last word, no matter how mean it is.

I suppose I could end up regretting this as I might be setting myself up to be the next target. But the library stands for the free and open exchange of information, ideas and reasoned opinion. We also pride ourselves on embracing useful new technologies, like blogs, to achieve that end. Instead, I think you’ll agree that an unprecedented opportunity for using the blog for constructive community dialogue is being missed. I encourage you all to read and post civil and reasoned comments on the D & C Irondequoit blog. Tell us what you think about the community center and library proposal. Maybe we can take back our local blogosphere and still have reasoned and civil discourse.

Read for yourself and please tell us what you think?

Change

People who know me know I’m a dedicated golfer. I await the end of each winter with great anticipation knowing that the golf season is about to begin. This year I’m playing with a new set of golf clubs. The clubs have all the latest game improvement technology and are custom fit to me and my golf swing. Most of my golfing pals are shocked.

Until this year I had been playing with the same set of clubs for 20 years. They were a beautiful set of Titleists made in 1970. They used to belong to my father. I inherited them when he died and played with them exclusively until this year. For me they symbolized him and the wonderful game he taught me. I fell hard for the game as he had and we spent countless afternoons practicing, playing and always striving to do better. In an era when it seemed like my father and I battled over everything golf was our one good connection. The length of my hair or the policies of the government never came up on the golf course. In the years following his death, with each round I played with those clubs, I felt the connection both to him and the great game I learned from him; a game of honor and integrity.

I’m not a great golfer but I have always been able to hang in when playing with my golfing pals. But in the last few years the game has experienced dramatic changes. Technological advances in club design and manufacture have given all golfers a huge boost both in distance and accuracy. Eventually, as all my friends upgraded their equipment, they were bombing their drives past mine and hitting them straighter too. “The game has changed. Time to modernize”, they would say to me.

I couldn’t do it. I loved those old clubs and everything they represented to me. As my game fell farther and farther behind I continued to deny that there was any need to change equipment. The bigger the gap between our golf games the more I abandoned logic and denied that there was anything wrong with the old clubs. I’d say, “Why would I want to switch away from these wonderful clubs? I don’t want to hear how great the others have it.” I was comfortable with what I had, feared any change and was in denial about how the game had changed without me. The more obvious it became that the logical thing to do was upgrade my equipment the deeper I retreated into emotional arguments against it.

One day, a close friend told me about his father-in-law. The guy made custom fitted golf clubs as a hobby and had recently made a set for my friend. He was so enthused about the new clubs he insisted I let him make me a set too and practically dragged me over to his workshop. Before I could politely get out of it I was being fitted for new clubs. In a few days I had them. As we often played together it would have been an insult not to use them. My game improved dramatically. I never went back to the Titleists. I still have them, in my basement.

It is embarrassing to admit that I had let my emotions and fear of change cloud my thinking for so long. I have talked about how much golf meant to me. I now see that I was dishonoring it by not trying to play my best. I missed out on the chance to improve because I couldn’t admit that I had to change with the times. Of course, now I realize that golf still has all the things that make it a great game. The changes in the game brought about by technology didn’t take away any of those great qualities. I just needed to face facts, let go of my fears and admit that there might be a better way.