Mary Novaria

The vitriol that is spread under the cover of social media anonymity is quickly infecting the rest of society. March 7, 2017  by  Mary Novaria   Featured on The Good Men Project Getty Images I’ve heard it said that folks who spew malicious attacks and toxic name-calling on Twitter are hiding behind relative anonymity—that they would never look someone in the eye and repeat face-to-face the same nasty, ugly venom, they type out to the world in 140 characters or less. Whether that theory is true, and I’m not convinced it is, doesn’t matter. Words are currency. Whether delivered via social media, a phone call, email or text, or in the presence of others, the words we choose and way we use them speaks volumes about who we are, both individually and as a society. ◊♦◊ So when I see the headline,  Longtime Trump Adviser Calls Critic a “Stupid Ignorant Ugly B—–, ” it gets my hackles up. Although some of his most profane and poisonous tweets wer...

FINALLY! October 24, 2014  UPDATE: Friday, October 24 . It has now been three days since EA has posted an update on the Network Error to either Facebook or Twitter. Let's continue to keep the pressure on for a fix! Comment on the Scrabble Digital Facebook page or Tweet @SCRABBLE_EA  Many of us paid for this app and we deserve answers and a refund.  The latest--October 21. Day 6. Not "favoriting" this... iOS users are still SOL.  Twitter Update--October 20. Yesterday, EA reported the following via Facebook and Twitter: " Hello everyone. Scrabble for Google Play has been updated with the fix to the Facebook connect issue. You can download the latest version in the Google Play store now. We're continuing to work the iOS and Amazon versions. Thank you again for your patience."  Courtesy of Scrabble Digital In other words, those of us playing on Apple devices are still hostages to this network terror, er, error. As Sean McAleer commented...

Ugly. Scary. Emaciated. Just a few of the uncharitable adjectives tossed around via social media since the Biggest Loser finale. I admit, when Rachel Frederickson stepped onto the stage in her shining silver dress, my jaw dropped. “Oh, no,” I said to my husband. “She’s way too thin.” I’d been pulling for Rachel, a former competitive swimmer since she arrived at the Biggest Loser Ranch weighing 260 pounds. One of three finalists, she stepped on the scale and we viewers collectively held our breaths as the scale beeped and flashed various numbers, building suspense before settling on Rachel’s winning weight. At 105 pounds she’d lost nearly 60 percent of her body weight. Credit: Biggest Loser via YouTube The firestorm began. On Twitter and Facebook the insults flew. There was also concern for Rachel’s health and wellbeing, which is appropriate. But vicious speculation (one tweet suggested she’d been on the Hitler diet), name-calling (gross and skeletal) and armchair diagnose...

Ever heard of an EGR? I first learned about EGRs some years ago in small-group leadership training at my Episcopal Church. Our teacher, Father Ron, was a hip, wise, somewhat older priest, not an authoritative father figure--although he was an authority on many things--more like a really cool uncle or family friend who’d traveled the world and learned a few things the hard way. Fr. Ron was very open to sharing both his spiritual and earthly journeys, especially the bits that bring you to your knees and eventually lead to humility. One of the things we learned from Father Ron was that, as small-group leaders, we could count on having at least one person in our groups of eight or ten who was an EGR—Extra Grace Required; grace being that divine gift God bestows to bless us with patience and other virtues. Some EGRs talk too much, frequently interrupt, or veer off topic. Some second guess everyone else’s comments, or play Devil’s advocate. Still others sit mutely during group discu...