A different kind of social media conversation

SOCIAL media doesn’t always bring out the best in us – and so next week, as part of the Kindness Festival, Frome Town Council and Let’s Talk are hosting an event at the Town Hall, to dive into its underbelly.   

Organisers say, “Tickets are free and will include a light vegetarian supper, but please book to let us know you are coming. The bar will also be open, so come and share your social media horror stories, for an informative conversation, and innovative thought about how we can create kinder online communities.

“Esteemed journalist, Marina Cantacuzino, once said “I don’t think we’ve turned any nastier than we ever were, it is just that we now have a platform from which to broadcast our frustrations and fury. Social media has simply enabled hateful speech to be communicated and spread by handing us all the power and none of the responsibility.” This event looks at what we can do to improve things for our community.

“Who is this event for? Anyone who has ever suffered a lack of kindness and respect on social media, anyone who been disturbed by witnessing others suffer a lack of kindness and respect, and also anyone interested in thinking about what we can do to make our social media platforms more tolerant, considerate and kind.

“Charlotte Calkin will lead a conversation around ‘kindness in social media’ and everyone will have a chance to share.  An expert in restorative communication practice, she will use her skills to help us make sense of non sensical situations and will help form the beginnings of a kindness in social media charter.”

Sara Butler, who has her own Facebook presence as Mayor of Frome says, “I am really lucky, my posts are largely really well received, but we all know that social media can sometimes be vile. In terms of creating a motivated and engaged community, it can also seem like a real blind alley.

“It creates echo chambers, which mean we often only hear positions that we are expecting to in our own feeds and so other perspectives can sometimes seem really shocking and often unkind. And here in Frome, we are no different – so get involved in this event and let’s see if we can talk it out and really support kinder community connections.”

All are welcome to the event that is taking place on Wednesday 8th March, Frome Town Hall, 7pm to 9pm.

Booking: www.tickettailor.com/events/frometowncouncil/848649