Social media

RiverheadLOCAL is setting clear social media comment rules in 2026. Debate is welcome; personal attacks and false or misleading information are not.

“We’re not going anywhere.” That’s the message from The Butterfly Effect Project in response to a slew of racist comments made on the organization’s recent Facebook post announcing an upcoming event honoring founder Tijuana Fulford and five junior volunteer leaders — all Black women.

“The Department of Homeland Security has determined that these threats are unsubstantiated and that there is no direct or specific threat to our schools or any other schools in our region,” Riverhead Central School District Interim Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich said.

School districts, government officials, teachers and parents are all struggling to decide how much cell phone use is too much, and what limits should be placed on social media access for kids.

Stuck with the unintended consequences of Facebook's profanity filter algorithm.

An anonymous threat toward schools that had been circulating on social media today was determined to be not credible by police, according to a statement by the Riverhead school superintendent.

Is there room for civil discourse anymore, as ridicule and disrespect take a tighter grip on both sides? Seeing the problem this way may help solve it. Is there any hope for the approach Abe Lincoln prescribed: "with malice toward none?"

Apparently most people only put their best face forward on their social media. Not in Laurie's "echo chamber," where it's one hot mess after another.

I am not an uneducated, angry misogynist or a hateful, judgmental or passive conservative. My friends who voted for Clinton are also not the terrible names they’ve been called either. We need to show each other respect.