DEAR Jasminda,

I follow a local community page on social media because I like to know what’s going on in the local area.

I’ve noticed, though, that there is ongoing racist and derogatory remarks.

I’m not game to comment back because then I’ll be trolled.

Why do people have to be so horrible?

Gwen P.

Dear Gwen,

Remember the good old days when the only opinions you heard were those from family and friends or the heavily monitored ones in the local paper?

It was easy, back then, to believe that most people had similar values.

Social media offers a plethora of opinions and unfortunately the notion of free speech has opened the door to keyboard cowards.

Unless the page has vigilant moderators, the trolls will continue to write obscene comments, probably with the intent of seeking attention to the detriment of those with common decency.

There’s little point in engaging with them as you’ll just be giving them the attention they desire. I would message the administrators of the page and alert them to their own rules.

If they don’t have the time to effectively monitor their page, perhaps they need to remove it.

Carpe diem,
Jasminda.