DOWNTOWN — On Facebook, people sure do love to hate Rahm Emanuel.
So much so that the vigorously crude and often profane chorus of mayor haters — not to mention thoughtful objectors to Emanuel’s public policies — overwhelms the comment section on his re-election campaign Facebook page and drowns out the mayor’s supporters.
Potshots flowing from the fingertips of Emanuel’s detractors pepper the campaign’s social media page no matter what the mayor’s social media maven Mary Naset posts.
For instance, photos of Emanuel shaking hands with ladies at CTA stations got tagged with “Rahm stinks.” “Big time A------” and “one-term mayor,” among other not-so-nice things.
Folks also take jabs at the mayor’s policies and include links supporting the mayor’s top challengers, Ald. Bob Fioretti and Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
“Did you tell them about your plans to cut their retirement pensions,” Ben Lorber commented after a photo array showing Emanuel visiting senior citizens.
The anti-Rahm sentiment — and some serious name-calling — gets worse after posts that either list Emanuel’s accomplishments or make promises.
“Tiny Dancer needs to go get his MFA after we fire him,” Daniel Buckman wrote.
“Anybody but Rahm, I [would] rather have a flower pot in office,” Angel Perez Jr. wrote. “Anybody but Rahm who lies, steals and cheats.”
One stinging post even called Emanuel Mayor Daley’s "illegitimate son.”
Despite the insults, campaign spokesman Steve Mayberry said Emanuel plans to stick with the decision to allow unfiltered comments to flow freely on social media.
“The mayor appreciates the opportunity to see what people have to say even when they disagree. It’s true there’s no lack of people using profanity and people being pointlessly rude, but there also are some people offering good, interesting input,” Mayberry said.
“But for better or worse some people remove their filter or don’t have one when making comments. And that’s part of the social media networking experience. Some people want to antagonize high-profile public figures, and the mayor is an attractive target for them. Us lamenting that point would be to miss the point.”
The steady stream of hate doesn’t go unnoticed by Emanuel’s campaign staff — and even the mayor himself, who asks for regular updates on how people are responding to social media posts.
Emanuel declined my request to discuss his feelings about the personal attacks hurled his way via social media, but maybe the City Hall press corps will ask him about it. (Hint, hint.)
Mayberry dismissed some of the online hate as the handiwork of Emanuel detractors hoping to flood the zone with negative comments about the mayor.
“I do think there’s a huge effort to gin up as much anti-mayor sentiment, and some people take it way too far with way too much profanity,” he said.
“It’s astounding because it's such an incredible waste of time. It’s being offensive to be offensive when people blast the mayor when we post happy new year or congratulate Jackie Robinson West or talk about a program in the city that’s working," Mayberry said. "It can get particularly vicious, and the person it’s really affecting is poor Mary, a 24-year-old lady who works really hard and has to read it every day."
Naset, who helped run the main Facebook page for President Barack Obama’s campaign, said she’s developed a thick skin.
“On the whole, it can be frustrating, but it’s the nature of the job in the digital realm, and I’ve gotten used to it,” she said. “There’s a difference between people who post constructive negativity and people who post off-topic just to be completely inflammatory … and are trolls just to be trolls. It can be loud, but it's not indicative of our larger following."
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