My Website Isn’t A Democracy

Last February, psychologists from the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg and University of British Columbia published the results to a study on Internet behavior. They found that Internet tolls—people who behave in a “deceptive, destructive, or disruptive manner in a social setting on the Internet”—meet the clinical definition for psychopathy and sadism. 

Every high-profile website on earth has to deal with internet trolls on a daily basis, which is why companies like CNN, Google, and Huffington Post are desperately trying to find an effective defense. Other sites, like Popular Science, have completely done away with comment systems.

I think it’s impossible to take a news organization seriously if the comments section is filled with garbage. I understand that CNN doesn’t have control over the types of stupid things its readers think, but it does have control over how those ideas are disseminated. If you wouldn’t let an overt psychopath anchor the evening news, they shouldn’t have a voice in the comments section.

Comments should add depth to a story. They should allow people to share their own perspective and turn the news into an interactive experience. They shouldn’t derail the conversation or turn it into an argument.