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20Mar 2019 by Lynda Waddington

Looking back on a year without the Facebook app

Gazette Column

What would make you take a step back from something that had been a part of your life for more than decade? Would it be one big thing, or a thousand little ones? Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the day I deleted the Facebook app from my phone. Since 2006 - a year remembered fondly because of its association with my real-keyboard-and-roller-ball BlackBerry - I had held the social network in the palm of my hand. For the past year, I've received no pinging notifications. I've not scrolled while waiting at the doctor's office. No photos from my travels have been immediately shared. The few posts, shares, likes, comments and other activity I've had since last March have been completed at a computer. And, honestly, those interactions also have…

Holiday gifts for readers and researchers

Gazette Column

Gusts of sharp December wind remind newspaper folk everywhere that its time for a year-end review. I’ll play along, but with a gift-giving twist. Instead of reviewing my work, which is too often a cringe-worthy experience, I’ve instead been plowing through your email messages to me. Kind comments, some of which helped me through difficult moments, once again had my eyes filling. I stand in awe of your quick wit and your generous spirit. Some feedback was brutal, constructive or otherwise, yet the vast majority of dissenting views focused on my words and not me. It’s an exceptional gift that far too few writers can claim, and a testament to a widespread desire for more civility and thoughtful dialogue. Within the messages I also discovered a pattern of questions and…

#NoMore hashtags to say #MeToo

Gazette Column

How many sexual predators, victims of abuse and hashtags does it take before society comes to terms with “locker room talk” and the harm it causes? Sexual harassment and assault aren’t just “women’s issues,” they are a community problem. Women are not the only victims, and men are not the only perpetrators. Most studies indicate one in four women have been sexually assaulted, and one in 10 men. Break those statistics down further and you find that minority groups — women of color and transexuals, specifically — appear to be especially targeted for abuse. This week those who have purposefully buried their head in the sand were given another opportunity to observe the carnage as women and men told their stories. And, just like so many other times in recent…