CWU student combats negativity online with growing Facebook group

A Central Washington University student was recently featured by the Ellensburg Daily Record for her efforts to combat hateful speech on social media.

Shortly after arriving in Ellensburg from outside the area, junior Diyhani Frazier started the Facebook group “Ellensburg Connect (No Hate) For All” in May 2021 as a way of fighting back against some of the toxic forces that show up online all too frequently.

Frazier noticed that people who were simply looking for free advice or encouragement from their social media community were often met with insensitivity and judgment. When the incidents began hitting closer to home, Frazier knew she needed to do something.

“I had a friend who posted some Hispanic resources,” she said in the article by reporter Anna Rose. “Someone said they didn’t know why they were posting it because we speak English in this country.”

Overall, the Facebook group has become a welcoming place where people can interact with one another in positive ways. There are a few isolated agitators, but for the most part, the “Ellensburg Connect (No Hate) For All” group has been a huge success.

The group is open to anyone, as long as they agree to be respectful to others. Frazier reports that her job as moderator has been fairly easy thus far.

“If anyone has an issue, they can report it and I get an alert on my phone,” she said. “I can review comments, even turn them off, but I usually don’t because I want to give people the chance to talk it out.”

There are currently 365 members in the group, with new requests to join every week. Frazier plans to keep it going for at least another couple of years. In the meantime, she hopes to find a co-administrator to help her keep the project alive.

“Where it’s going, I have no idea,” she said. “But I think it’s going really well based on engagement.”