Like millions of people across the globe, I frequently use Facebook to share my ideas, information on Watertown events, and public announcements. I also use Facebook to advertise my business, Hefferon Real Estate. I think it’s a great platform with amazing capabilities, and I love how easily it allows me to connect with people.
On the flip side, as we have witnessed here in Watertown, Facebook also can be abused.
Started in May 2023 under a different name, the now City of Watertown Meme Page has a lot to say… most of it is untrue, misleading, and downright nasty.
I know because I’m a frequent target… as are my fellow Council members Cliff Olney and Pat Hickey. Leonard Spaziani, who is running for Council next month is also a target. Even city staff members and certain people and businesses in the media have been targeted.
The creators of this page remain anonymous, and every post on the page is made anonymously. The unknown characters hide behind their computers and regularly blast away at people.
Mayor Jeff Smith stated on public radio that he knows who is behind the meme page, but he refuses to name names. He would rather protect the anonymous people on that page—adding to the divisiveness he has created and that has defined his mayoral career. Everything Mayor Smith does is for the purpose of his own political gains, rather than the benefit of the residents of Watertown.
My mayoral opponent Sarah Compo Pierce is only praised, and never mocked on the meme page. She says she is against bullying and agreed during a City Council meeting that the page is in fact bullying—but she has never condemned this page. Why is that?
Not much is left to the imagination when you think about whose friends might be behind this page. By aligning the name of the page to the City of Watertown, by writing about Council matters, by only attacking certain members of Council, those behind this page are in essence trying to control the election by persuading the public who NOT to vote for.
Some of my opponent’s best friends have been associated with the meme page, which is thought to have been created for Ms. Compo Pierce’s own political gain. Why would she want the page to stop spewing lies and hate for me and others if these attacks might bring her votes?
The meme page banner states that the page is “satire,” which means the page is intended to exaggerate, ridicule, and criticize people. Late night comedians often use satire to get laughs at the expense of others—only the comedians show their faces when they speak.
Where satire crosses the line into bullying is when those speaking cowardly hide behind their screens, keyboards, and fake names.
This page is being used by people too afraid and ashamed to associate their names and faces with the malicious, nasty lies they speak about people. There is a name for people like this—cowards.
Let’s just call this bully page what it is—The City of Watertown MEAN Page.