More great observations by Markus Batchelor! Go HERE to read the full post.

Excerpt:

There is nothing wrong with healthy debate and bringing new issues to the table. However, what we are seeing on these social media sites now is the slow unraveling of the little unity the community has and the unquestionable embarrassment of our ward and all who are trying to do positive in it. 

The problem is that so many people in this community are too interested in letting their opinions be heard about even the smallest topics that any means will be taken to get that attention. And unfortunately, the most boisterous, disruptive and attention-chasing members of the community are now discovering these tools that a year ago were just “for the children”. 

Though we don’t want to shun people from the process or exclude them from having their voices heard, there is an inherent and immediate need to shift the conversation from conflict to resolution of the issues that our community has. We tend to get so sucked in to the conflict that even the most upstanding of us in the community are distracted, pulled into the gossip and taken away from the most important of the issues at hand.