social media

Lonely People in Basements with Guns (& Why They Matter Too)

March 14, 2013 By Ellen Painter Dollar

From all the fraught conversations I witnessed or participated in after the Sandy Hook shooting on December 14, 2012, I keep recalling one line: I wish these guys [mentally unstable people with guns] would go back to shooting themselves in basements, instead of taking a bunch of other people with them. The shooting at Sandy [...]

Filed Under: ethics Tagged With: #ItIsEnough, Christianity, ethics, God, gun control, gun violence, gun violence victims, Sandy Hook Elementary, social media, stronger gun laws, suicide, violence

Should We All Give Up Reading the Comments Section…Forever?

February 18, 2013 By Ellen Painter Dollar 7 Comments

Two of my friends, both of whom are writers with plenty of experience in the comment section trenches, have given up reading comments for Lent. Another friend with years of writing/blogging experience ended an email offering me some advice on a sticky professional situation with this nugget: Do your best not to read comments. Not [...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blogging, blogs, comments, journalism, letters to the editor, online journalism, social media, When in Comments, writing 7 Comments

It Is Enough: A Christian Social Media Campaign Around Gun Violence

February 5, 2013 By Ellen Painter Dollar 6 Comments

I’m pleased to announce a new initiative, coordinated by me and pastor/writer/blogger Katherine Willis Pershey, to provide a consistent Christian voice addressing gun violence and the need for more effective gun laws. Conversing via Facebook in the days following the Sandy Hook massacre on December 14, 2012, Katherine and I became convinced of the need [...]