COLUMBIA, Mo 4/7/25 (Op-Ed) -- Some people blame it on the loss of so-called "legacy" or traditional media. Others, that substantive issues like power lines, water towers, and government finances are of little interest to voters or candidates. 

Still others blame it on the loss of direct public questioning at candidate forums. Unlike a decade ago, most forums are now little more than special-interest endorsement interviews. Moderators ask pre-screened questions. The few forums that take written audience questions either ask or ignore them.

Whatever the reasons, this year's April election season's most dramatic and telling moments have played out on Facebook and Reddit, which allow the kind of long, impassioned interactions X, Insta, other social media sites -- and candidate forums -- don't. Here are some of this season's juicier social media moments.

Columbia's "Real" Masterminds

Who runs The Real Columbia Missouri Facebook page? Which like it or not, has become the city's most influential public forum -- and with a simple approach: photos of homelessness.

Most of this who-does-it drama played out on Anthony Willroth's Facebook page from about March 6-10.  School Board candidate frontrunner Erica Dickson posted the same question on her Facebook page March 5.

The Real Columbia Missouri page has almost single-handedly changed public perceptions about crime and safety in Columbia, not with statistics but daily illustrations of chaos, heartbreak, narcotics abuse, and an environmental health crisis whose visuals are undeniable and overwhelming. It's like looking at the broken windows theory on steroids.

At one time 15,000 followers strong until Facebook took it down over a controversial post, TRCM is back up to 12,000 followers. The Columbia Missourian quoted TRCM page posts in a March 5 story that League of Women Voters forum moderator David Lile quoted in a candidate question. The impact is unquestionable.  

History provides significant precedent for this modern-day phenomenon. Photojournalist Jacob Riis documented the bitter social and economic ills of his age.  And photos of Hoovervilles -- tent cities and shanty towns that sprang up during the Great Depression post-Guilded Age -- helped wreck Herbert Hoover's Presidential reputation.  

Hagler versus Dickson

Not to be confused with boxing champ "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler, Columbia's most well-known school board critic, Marisa Hagler, came out swinging when she saw school board candidate Erica Dickson refer to moms as "birthing people" at a voter forum.  A mom herself, Hagler posted on Columbia Mo Uncensored, "I find that term derogatory, disgusting, rude and nasty." 

Dickson wasted no time responding, "thanking" Hagler for "shouting me out," and inviting further discourse that turned into more of a virtual brawl. The drama played out for a couple days, on the Facebook pages of Dickson and Columbia Mo Uncensored.

Save Our City from the Fascists

This drama has mostly played out on LGBTQ activist Howard Hutton's Facebook page, which features a photo of Mayoral candidate Blair Murphy next to a public gathering in Third Reich Germany complete with all the trappings (below).

Such rhetorical (and pictorial) hyperbole washes out bread-and-butter local issues such as -- power lines, water towers, tax hikes, and public finance. Public safety gets a nod in the pro-and-anti cop debate, but attached to the authoritarian state debate, quickly moves beyond local politics.

Similar but not as strident rhetoric appears off and on via Columbia Mo Reddit page, e.g.

Shame on you, Murphy and Graves. Our city is fantastic. Please take your fear mongering someplace else.

The Silly Side: "Hey Columbia! It's Me!"

Hard to believe this satirical Columbia Heart Beat series has been running on Facebook since Sept 2023. With first names only as a comic conceit, it stars the Mayor -- earnest, smiling, and politically savvy, but not dialed in the way many voters want and need. While her blithe unawareness has its endearing moments, thank goodness for Sydney and Sheela, who try their best to keep Mayor and City on course. The Mayor tries her best, meanwhile, to either assuage -- or avoid -- them. 

Humor being the most subjective fiction of all, it's either love or hate, funny or stupid, for most readers. But with all the drama on social media, a little humor doesn't seem that out of place. 

Ask Me Anything: Reddit's rarity

Though famous for left-leaning political debates, Columbia Mo Reddit features one of few opportunities for the general public to ask candidate questions directly: Ask Me Anything, or AMA, links below.

The loss of this feature at most candidate forums has undeniably squelched the public voice and the unexpected, un-rehearsed, uncontrolled dialogs direct public questioning sparks. Our leadership has suffered, too.

"Elton on Evolution" was one of the more famous moments at a League of Women Voters forum before strict moderation stole the show. 

Asked by an audience member at a microphone how he felt about teaching Evolution in public schools, popular incumbent school board member Elton Fay said he supported Creationism. His response ran wild in the press and cost him the election. 

Hey Columbia, Mayor Buffaloe here. Ask me anything.

Hey Neighbors, I'm Murph running for Mayor of Columbia. ASK ME ANYTHING!

I'm Tanya Heath running for Mayor of Columbia, ASK ME ANYTHING!