“If they want to sit there in their pajamas and throw out bad information, I think we just need to ignore it.”
BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—City Councilman Tony Brown told his colleagues he was frustrated with misinformation he reads on Facebook and has closed his account on the social media platform.
“I’m sick and tired of it,” Brown declared during a January 8 council meeting. “I mean, everybody has a right to their opinion, but we bust our tails, our staff busts their tails, and instead of just jumping on something and just start typing and hiding behind a screen and using other names and stuff, it’s just irritating when people say we ought to all get fired; we ought to all get kicked off this council.”
Council member Steve Hart said he thought most of the comments he has seen on Facebook about city business were fair, “but there are two or three that pop up just about every day where the person is uninformed, either intentionally or unintentionally, and just likes to snipe.”
“It’s so easy to hide behind your keyboard, sitting in your pajamas in your living room or whatever,” Hart added.
The retired attorney advised his colleagues and city staff to ignore the social media comments.
“I think we have a public purpose to represent the people in the city and not engage in back and forth (on Facebook),” he said. “If they want to come to this meeting and have a public comment or be on the agenda, that’s fine, but if they want to sit there in their pajamas and throw out bad information, I think we just need to ignore it. I really do.”
Mayor Nina Rodenroth said misinformation and unfair criticism on social media is not limited to the Lake Region.
“I am very involved with the League of Mayors for the State of Florida and (with) similar sized cities, every one of them go through some of these same challenges.”
Earlier in the meeting, Rodenroth called for a workshop to improve the city’s website and social media presence.
“Social media is great, but I think our city…can do a better job in how we state the facts, how we clarify details,” she said. “There is a freedom of speech thing obviously, that it is what it is, but I think it’s important for the citizens to know the facts, and they may not like the facts, but we want to make sure that they do know what the real facts are.”
