'Nothing's held back': Manitobans in the public eye experience range of rudeness on social media

Do public figures deserve more respect? Tell us what you thinkin a video comment in our newGood Talkexperiment.

Althea Guiboche, a well known anti-poverty activist in Winnipeg, says "block and delete" work wonders.

Known as "the Bannock Lady"for handing out bannock to homeless people, Guiboche had some interesting encounters with people on social media when she ran for the Liberals in Manitoba's 2016 provincial election.

"What are you going to do for us flood victims, besides throw us a piece of bannock," Guiboche said, recalling what one voter said to her during the campaign.

When she suggested the man talk to her in a respectful manner, Guiboche said his response was that she was a politician and she had to take it.

"And I said, 'No, as an Indigenous woman, I do not,'" she said. "And then, you know, he said, 'Well, you lost my vote.' I said that's fine."

CBC Manitoba recently spoke with Guiboche as part of the series The Loss of Civility, exploring issues of rudeness and civility.

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"If they think they're anonymous, they're not civil at all," she said. "They make outrageous comments, very racist, showing their true character when they think no one's looking."

Personal attacks

Former Winnipeg Blue Bomber offensive lineman Ibrahim"Obby" Khan took a lot of hits on the field during his career in the Canadian Football League. But some of what's been thrown his way on Twitter has been hard to shake off.

Khan, who's a member of Winnipeg's Muslim community, said he has dealt with some nasty comments about his faith and also about his community work.

"When they're personal attacks, those sting a lot harder and they stay with you," Khan said.

"Why would someone go on social media and say something so negative, so nasty about someone they don't know?" he asked.

"What does that say to us as a society, as a group of people?"

But while he has dealt with some negative comments, Khan said the majority of his encounters with people online have been positive.

Quitters come back, expert says

For Winnipeg city councillor Janice Lukes, just checking herFacebook feed can be quite the experience.

"I've had pictures that you wouldn't believe sent to me, of body parts," the South Winnipeg-St. Norbert councillorsaid.

"Nothing's held back."

Because nothing is held back these days, we've seen some celebrities, including Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, quit social media platforms like Instagram.

And they're not the only ones. You may have seensomeone in yourFacebooknetworkmake a proclamation that they are leavingbecause they've had enough.

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Brett Caraway, who teaches media studies at the University of Toronto, has seen that among his Facebook friends. But he said eventually, they all came back.

"I've never seen any of them leave permanently," Caraway said.

"I think that speaks to how it's hard to actually opt out of these platforms," he said.

"At a certain point, we as a society, a culture, we integrate these technologies so thoroughly into just our normaldaily practicethat to refuse themputs you culturally, socially, even politically on the margins."

So how do we get along in this virtual worldthat's so intertwined with our real lives, knowing nasty encounters can be part of the deal?

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Khan believes part of the answer involves taking a standwhen we see negative, hurtful or racist comments.

"We have to stand up and tell people that it's not OK to do that stuff on social media," he said.

"Just like you would stand up if someone was bullying a kid on the playground."

Listen to CBC'sInformation RadioMonday at 7:40 a.m. for a conversation about rudeness in social media, as part of CBC Manitoba's seriesThe Loss of Civility.