Holy Cow! Chick-Fil-Hate?

If I follow any local news outlet, it would be 11 Alive. Since I can't watch my television all of the time I follow 11 Alive on my facebook page. On Monday, they posted a story about Chick-Fil-A. The chicken sandwich chain is under fire for supporting many family organizations that are openly against the gay community's rights to get married and adopt. It is well known that Chick-Fil-A is a Christian based company. They are not open on Sundays- isn't that when you crave their chicken biscuits the most?! While they are Christian based and support these family first organizations, President Dan Cathy claims that they believe in equal rights for everyone.

In the past, this could have been just another news story aired on tv. Now, it is available on any new new media outlet available. It is also available for anyone and everyone to voice their opinions on the story. As soon as 11 Alive posted the article on their facebook wall, the comment section was flooded with varying views on the fast food restaurant.

Has new new media become just another platform for hate? I am not even talking about Chick-fil-A here. I am talking about the hateful comments that were dominant in 11 Alive's facebook feed. Of course there were some voices of reason, but the majority of comments were either anti-gay or anti-Christian. I am not sure what 11 Alive was expecting when posting this story, but the dialogue between their facebook fans was anything but friendly.

One of the greatest things about the United States is our right to freedom of speech. I believe that social media is a great way to get your ideas and opinions out into the rest of the world. In this Chick-Fil-A story, however, I believe that the hateful comments prevented any type of intellectual dialogue on this social issue. If anything, I believe that it divided people more. Read the article, watch Dan Cathy's video and take a look at all of the heated comments on this 11 Alive post: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/11Alive/posts/160751493975268

While it is important to know what others think about social issues, it is definitely hard to read how horribly divided we still are. New new media provides loads of information at the click of a button, but also provides misinformation and personal agendas that can be harmful.

Then again, I could have chosen to ignore this 11 Alive post about Chick-Fil-A. But if it involves my chicken sandwich and waffle fries, I feel that I need to know!