By Elizabeth Hise
Special to the FOCUS Blog

I’m writing today about an issue that has frustrated me to no end over the last few months. It’s unpleasant, it’s wearisome, and it’s a product of the technology-driven society in which we live. I don’t even know what to call this frustration of mine, but after experiencing it time and time again, I’ve decided that I’m not, in fact, making it up.

Perhaps you’ve experienced it as well. Say you’re reading an article on STLToday.com. It’s a solid article, well written, thoughtful. You don’t necessarily agree with the topic, but you acknowledge that others might. But then you reach the end. And the frustration begins… the comment section.

Now, the comment section is, in and of itself, a wonderful thing. It allows everyone reading to have a voice; it allows citizens to air their thoughts on the news at hand, discuss the topic, or debate the issues. But sometimes, St. Louis commenters don’t use it that way. Instead of conversing, they insult. Instead of discussing, they belittle. For these commenters, debate really isn’t an option; it’s more “my way or the highway,” and their comments are peppered with abusive words like “nitwits” and “idiots.” They attack people (or journalists) – not the issues.

We live in a country in which we really are entitled to our own opinions – good, bad and ugly. This is an amazing right, but in spite of it, our country still has many, many flaws – many of which we are continually striving to improve. But until we can stop belittling and insulting one another (often under the cover of anonymous screen names), we’ll never actually improve, fix or change anything. We’ll only continue to tear each other – and our society – down further.

So I’m asking you, St. Louis, to tone it down. How can we change the conversation so that it’s more productive and less destructive?