For example, at Our Sunday Visitor, we published an article about same-sex marriage. The article was bombarded with inappropriate, derogatory comments. The article was targeted by a site that sends people to post in such a way. These people were not interested in a respectful discussion, but continued on with foul language and fallacy-filled comments, despite efforts to encourage respectful engagement. Some of the comments had to be deleted since our policy does not allow inappropriate language.
Interestingly, not long after that, I came across an article from Slate titled "Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People." It found some strong correlations between Internet trolls and Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism (known as Dark Tetrad traits). That paints a pretty picture doesn't it?
Obviously not all comment boxes experience this extreme, but the lack of thoughtful discussions is certainly present. It makes it difficult to fully embrace comment boxes, but if we want to drive discussion and engagement, it’s a necessary evil.
It sounds like you had the same experience Jeremy has when he reports on someone from the GLBT community for the Boston Globe. Sorry to hear this.
ReplyDelete