In a community where Facebook comment threads and messenger groups can sometimes become louder than the people doing the work, a recent Cameron Chamber of Commerce program offered a different message: the negative voices do not have to be the only voices.
David Burton, a community development specialist with University of Missouri Extension, spoke to local residents and business leaders during a chamber-sponsored presentation on becoming an “engaged neighbor.” The program focused on rebuilding community connection through simple, intentional acts — learning names, having conversations and creating opportunities for people to gather.
For Cameron, the topic landed close to home.
In recent months and years, many residents have watched local disagreements spill into social media, where rumors, criticism and personal attacks can quickly shape the public mood. Burton did not come to Cameron with a prescription for how the community should handle those tensions. Instead, he pointed to examples from other communities and challenged residents to decide what kind of local culture they want to build.
Burton said Cameron’s struggles are not unique.
“I know there’s been some challenges, but I don’t think it’s anything unique necessarily to Cameron,” Burton told the audience. “It’s something a lot of communities have struggled with.”
Burton said he arrived early enough to visit around town, including stops at the library, a gas station, a convenience store and Walmart. He said the people he spoke with were positive about living in Cameron, even though the community has faced its share of public tension.
That contrast — between the negativity people often see online and the more hopeful tone found in everyday conversations — became one of the central themes of the evening.
Burton discussed communities that have responded to online negativity in different ways. In Great Bend, Kansas, he said some business owners organized a “positive social response team” to answer inaccurate or overly negative social media posts with factual, positive information. In Decatur, Alabama, civic leaders promoted community standards for how residents talk to and about one another. In Stillwater, Oklahoma, local leaders worked with Oklahoma State University on a “Good News Stillwater” campaign to highlight stories of kindness and positive community life.
One line from Stillwater stood out in Burton’s presentation: communities may not be able to erase negativity, but they can make sure it is not the only voice people hear.
That idea has particular relevance in Cameron, where some residents and organizations have been looking for ways to emphasize local progress, volunteerism, school achievements, business growth and neighborly acts rather than allowing online conflict to define the town’s image.
Burton’s message was not that residents should ignore problems or pretend conflict does not exist. Rather, he said communities have choices in how they respond. Some may choose to answer online negativity directly with facts and encouragement. Others may choose to step away from social media and invest more heavily in face-to-face relationships. Others may focus on telling more good stories.
The key, he said, is intentionality.
Burton’s “engaged neighbor” concept begins with a simple question: How well do people actually know those who live around them?
A handout provided during the program asked residents whether they can name the neighbors who live next to them, whether they know a personal fact about each one and whether they speak to those neighbors. The handout states that fewer than two percent of Americans can answer yes to all three questions.
“People in America say they feel isolated than ever. Part of the reason is we have forgotten the art of neighboring,” Burton wrote in the handout.
Burton told the audience that being a good neighbor is different from simply being quiet, polite or leaving people alone. In fact, he said research conducted by MU Extension found that many Missourians now define a good neighbor as someone who respects privacy and stays quiet — a sharp contrast from earlier generations, when neighbors were often part of one another’s social lives.
That is why Burton said communities need more than “good neighbors.” They need engaged neighbors.
His starting point is simple: learn names, use names and find ways to bring people together.
Burton shared his own experience of realizing he had lived in his neighborhood for years while knowing very few of the people around him. He and his wife eventually made cookies, attached their contact information and began knocking on doors. The effort was awkward at first, he said, but it opened the door to relationships that had not existed before.
Over time, those small efforts led to driveway gatherings, coffee meetups and stronger relationships among neighbors.
Burton repeatedly emphasized that neighboring is not instant work.
“Neighboring is a crock pot, not a microwave,” he told the audience, describing it as something built slowly through consistency over time.
The handout also encouraged residents to think differently about common neighborhood conflicts. Burton gave the example of an overgrown yard that had been reported to the city. It turned out the woman living there was a single mother caring for her terminally ill mother, and the lawn had fallen far down her list of priorities. The handout asked whether a neighborly response might have been to check on her and offer help before calling the city.
That point resonated with the broader theme of the evening: stronger communities are not built only through ordinances, meetings or online arguments. They are built through relationships.
“What is needed is more neighboring, more mentoring, more face-to-face interaction and understanding,” Burton wrote in the program handout.
During the question-and-answer portion, audience members asked how the concept applies in rural areas, where neighbors may live farther apart, and how residents should handle social media spaces that are both useful and toxic. Burton said technology can be a tool for connection, especially in rural settings, but warned that it becomes harmful when it replaces real relationships.
He said social media algorithms are often designed to reward aggravation, crisis and drama. That means communities must be thoughtful about whether online engagement is helping build trust or simply feeding conflict.
Some audience members said local Facebook groups remain important because many people rely on them for announcements and community information. But others acknowledged that negative comments and online “sniping” can discourage organizations and businesses from sharing positive news.
Burton said each person, business or organization has to decide how to use those platforms. But he also said there is nothing wrong with positive, honest support for a community.
That may be where Cameron’s opportunity lies.
The city’s challenges are real. Public disagreements, political tension, downtown concerns and online criticism will not disappear because of one chamber program. But Burton’s message suggested that residents do not have to let the loudest voices set the tone for everyone else.
A more positive community narrative does not require pretending everything is perfect. It requires making sure the full story is told — including the people volunteering, mentoring, coaching, teaching, building businesses, helping neighbors and showing up when others need them.
Burton closed with a simple reminder that community change does not have to begin with a large campaign or formal program. It can begin with one person learning one name, starting one conversation or taking one small action.
“One name, one conversation, one action,” Burton said. “Stronger neighbors. Stronger community.”
