oh, gurl, PREACH.  seriously, snap judgements and snide assholery you feel welling upside you maybe doesn’t need to get spewed all over the internets.  a moment of thoughtful reflection, please. ephemeralabandon: I’ve been on a tear lately about internet comment threads and the dregs (for the most part) that use them to air their uninformed, unimportant, and usually repugnant thoughts about this and that. Apparently I’m not the only one who’s rethinking the [lack of] benefits when it comes to the unfortunate public discourse of internet commenting. Farhad Manjoo recently wrote a piece for Slate on the social science of wretched behavior as it connects to anonymity and how it’s ruining the internet. By the way, Slate doesn’t allow anonymous comments and that’s a step in the right direction. Show your faces, you disgusting cowards! We don’t exactly live in an age of skilled and thoughtful public discourse to begin with. Our politicians resort to petty name-calling, hate speak, and bold faced lying, and TV news outlets in the States focus more on incendiary punditry and the outmoded opinions of paranoid zealots than they do on, say, news. Even so, if you really want to worry about the state of humanity, check out any online comment thread attached to a news story about an act of violence—whether or not it was perpetrated by a person of color, someone (usually many someones) in the comment thread will find a way to connect it to “justifiable” racism.  Every so often, a thoughtful comment is posted by someone who seems genuinely interested in enhancing the conversation, but mostly it’s a sea of racists, sexists, people with any number of bigoted “phobias,” and people who just seem like they’re shooting their mouths [typey fingers] off without having read the article. It doesn’t matter what online source you’re reading— NPR, SF Chronicle, New York Times, Salon, Fox, LA Times, The Examiner (pick your city)— liberal, conservative, or neutral. There is so rarely anything of worth on any site that allows comments, I would start a petition to do away with commenting altogether; but how does one petition the INTERNET?? I’ve emailed a few editors about it and none of them seem to actually find any worth in having reader comments, but everyone does it, so they do too. And sometimes a handful of readers will have something thought-provoking to say.  So, short of being able to remove reader comments from the entire internet and having plead my case to various outlets, I thought I’d just illustrate for anyone who might be thinking about including their ill-considered comment on a thread how they will be received and envisioned. I also write a blog about style, and how we choose to use language contributes to our style as much as clothing and hairstyles do… even if we can’t see you. Headline: Five Men Shot and Wounded in Mission District Bar Source: SFGate Comment:  pericles01 6:33 PM on March 15, 2011 There’s your multicultural, sanctuary city…..the model for all America. Soon it will all be ghetto! Style: You are a cowardly racist! Headline: We Are Not Just Digging the Whole Anymore (about Borders Books closing) Source: NPR Comment: Philip Piediscalzo (Philipinosis) wrote: Too long. Next storyette Style: You are a pointless, pompous ass! Headline: Last Surviving U.S. Veteran of World War I Laid to Rest Source: Fox News Comment: wyldeheart  0 minutes ago in reply to george henseler Just what I’ve been saying for HOURS despite the Libtards and deliberate rabble rousers. Obammie can’t get off the golf course long enough to address ANYTHING but a photo op to get his face out there for a poor old veteran who fought in WWI.Shameful. Obammie can’t tell anyone whether or not the radiation from blowing from Japan will actually affect California, Washington, Oregon, or HAWAII…his supposed birth place.BUT he sure can get his @@@ on the golf course and make other sports predictions in the midst of a potential world wide tragedy. Style: You are a used up sorority girl type! p.s. nothing like using a person’s death as a chance to break out the under used “libtard.”  Headline: Ohio Town Sees Public Job as Only Route to Middle Class Source: The New York Times Comment: i thought i was reading a news article, but apparently i accidentally opened a teachers’ union propaganda website (aka, the new york times). Style: You would like to mean because you’re paranoid, but instead you just play the middle because you’re actually pretty spineless. Yeah. That’s John Mayer. I Googled “boring white guy” for that last one and he came up. I agree. I could go on. I didn’t include some of the worst comments out there— they send my to the rage cave straight away, so try to avoid them.  GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, HUMANITY OR WE WILL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE NEXT EVOLUTIONARY LEAP!

oh, gurl, PREACH. 

seriously, snap judgements and snide assholery you feel welling upside you maybe doesn’t need to get spewed all over the internets.  a moment of thoughtful reflection, please.

ephemeralabandon:

I’ve been on a tear lately about internet comment threads and the dregs (for the most part) that use them to air their uninformed, unimportant, and usually repugnant thoughts about this and that. Apparently I’m not the only one who’s rethinking the [lack of] benefits when it comes to the unfortunate public discourse of internet commenting. Farhad Manjoo recently wrote a piece for Slate on the social science of wretched behavior as it connects to anonymity and how it’s ruining the internet. By the way, Slate doesn’t allow anonymous comments and that’s a step in the right direction. Show your faces, you disgusting cowards!

We don’t exactly live in an age of skilled and thoughtful public discourse to begin with. Our politicians resort to petty name-calling, hate speak, and bold faced lying, and TV news outlets in the States focus more on incendiary punditry and the outmoded opinions of paranoid zealots than they do on, say, news. Even so, if you really want to worry about the state of humanity, check out any online comment thread attached to a news story about an act of violence—whether or not it was perpetrated by a person of color, someone (usually many someones) in the comment thread will find a way to connect it to “justifiable” racism. 

Every so often, a thoughtful comment is posted by someone who seems genuinely interested in enhancing the conversation, but mostly it’s a sea of racists, sexists, people with any number of bigoted “phobias,” and people who just seem like they’re shooting their mouths [typey fingers] off without having read the article.

It doesn’t matter what online source you’re reading— NPR, SF Chronicle, New York Times, Salon, Fox, LA Times, The Examiner (pick your city)— liberal, conservative, or neutral. There is so rarely anything of worth on any site that allows comments, I would start a petition to do away with commenting altogether; but how does one petition the INTERNET?? I’ve emailed a few editors about it and none of them seem to actually find any worth in having reader comments, but everyone does it, so they do too. And sometimes a handful of readers will have something thought-provoking to say. 

So, short of being able to remove reader comments from the entire internet and having plead my case to various outlets, I thought I’d just illustrate for anyone who might be thinking about including their ill-considered comment on a thread how they will be received and envisioned. I also write a blog about style, and how we choose to use language contributes to our style as much as clothing and hairstyles do… even if we can’t see you.

Headline: Five Men Shot and Wounded in Mission District Bar

Source: SFGate

Comment:  pericles01 6:33 PM on March 15, 2011 There’s your multicultural, sanctuary city…..the model for all America. Soon it will all be ghetto!

Style: You are a cowardly racist!

Headline: We Are Not Just Digging the Whole Anymore (about Borders Books closing)

Source: NPR

Comment: Philip Piediscalzo (Philipinosis) wrote: Too long. Next storyette

Style: You are a pointless, pompous ass!

Headline: Last Surviving U.S. Veteran of World War I Laid to Rest

Source: Fox News

Comment: wyldeheart  0 minutes ago in reply to george henseler

Just what I’ve been saying for HOURS despite the Libtards and deliberate rabble rousers.

Obammie can’t get off the golf course long enough to address ANYTHING but a photo op to get his face out there for a poor old veteran who fought in WWI.

Shameful. Obammie can’t tell anyone whether or not the radiation from blowing from Japan will actually affect California, Washington, Oregon, or HAWAII…his supposed birth place.

BUT he sure can get his @@@ on the golf course and make other sports predictions in the midst of a potential world wide tragedy.

Style: You are a used up sorority girl type! p.s. nothing like using a person’s death as a chance to break out the under used “libtard.” 

Headline: Ohio Town Sees Public Job as Only Route to Middle Class

Source: The New York Times

Comment: i thought i was reading a news article, but apparently i accidentally opened a teachers’ union propaganda website (aka, the new york times).

Style: You would like to mean because you’re paranoid, but instead you just play the middle because you’re actually pretty spineless.

Yeah. That’s John Mayer. I Googled “boring white guy” for that last one and he came up. I agree.

I could go on. I didn’t include some of the worst comments out there— they send my to the rage cave straight away, so try to avoid them. 

GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, HUMANITY OR WE WILL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE NEXT EVOLUTIONARY LEAP!