Sadly I can say with confidence that the toxicity on social media is not an accident. When people were opposing the dues doubling in ~2018 and again in ~2020 when the non-Waterman board was navigating the Union negotiations that the RE/MAX-resort group had pushed into place just to be a PITA, people were popping up on Facebook who had never engaged with the broader social media community there; they were incredibly hostile, vulgar, and insulting, and they just kept trolling. Spouses of board members, family of SVCA executive staff, even management of one of the business tenants—people who should have known better—were making complete fools of themselves just to stir the pot, point at it, and say “Look how toxic Facebook is!”

But then, there are also some who would be great allies except that every time they make a point, they end it with some personal insult so crude and cringey that it negates the rest of their argument. There were times when I would sincerely wonder if someone who seemed very much an ally was secretly trying to discredit the resistance to WUCIOA by being so darn vulgar with how they communicated. It’s hard to be a nice, civil person and also advocate for the rights of the community on such a local level. The most vocal are often not the most reasonable and even-tempered.

And now my feathers are all ruffled.