Best to engage face to face too

The report “Social media shaping up to be key front in GE15” (Aug 25), summarises Singapore’s political social media landscape today. The narrative is similar to places such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

The nature of social media, which lets users hide behind avatars and made-up names, seldom allows for the building of a real community, where compromises allow space for everyone.

This leads to extreme views, which result ultimately in the lowest form of communication: Insults. This applies even to those using their own names online because there is a feeling of dissociation between one’s online presence and real-world role.

However, there are those who really wish to be engaged. Perhaps our future Members of Parliament can consider engaging them face-to-face in small groups, rather than taking them on online and having trolls hijack the discussion.