There is a saying, “don’t read the bottom half of the internet”. It refers to the fact that while you might get polite and intelligent content at the top of the page, you’re unlikely to once the comments section opens up.
This is a good lesson for live. People are dicks on the internet.
A lot of people don’t seem to have spent much time on the internet though, and are then surprised by the unfriendly comments that they find. Even Richard Dawkins didn’t know until 2010.
But some people think they are unfairly targeted because of who they are. Some people may be of course, but I think it’s important to remember that regardless of who you are, the background hate of the internet generally runs pretty high. Here are some of the comments I’ve picked off my YouTube channel:
All those chicks have no taste though man. SO FUCK U.
There is nothing ‘cool’ about a camera which does a good job of showcasing that face.
what a tard you are
Ur an Idiot Get urFuckin Fact Straight u White Retard
do ur homework u white piece of shit.
umm you looked kinda like you on drugs but yeah i loved that movie and you did a good job
You’re on the right track, kid, but you need to get your hair washed and trimmed.
im reckoning by your dodgy mullet that this is common in your family?? you wouldnt be out of place deep deep south playing a banjo
Fucking idiot.
xmeltrut  ur fucking a dick ibet zain buksh whould fuck ur ugly face ur video sucks and u look like a girl u dickhead
they did die ur fucking dumb
oi u fuck face they did die
Damn you’re ugly.
You look like Trevor from the Trailer Park Boys….
fuck all athiets i hope you will enjoy getting your maginas ripped off in hell death to the athiests
Lmfao, get a gf. Shag her and get a life
you look like a monkey
this guy in the video is an idiot
Lose the drug culture look and maybe i’ll watch the video next time…….Nobody will take you seriously looking like that.
peado’s say i will touch you and you will be healed
haha killing jews lol kill six million jews and burn there corpses lmao
You’re probably thinking that I’ve picked off the worst, most abusive comments. But I haven’t. In fact, the majority of the comments on my YouTube account have been deleted, because the accounts they were posted from have since been flagged as abusive or threatening. What you see above is actually the nicer disparaging comments that get posted.
The take home message is that everyone gets verbally abused on the internet. It’s sad; I wish it wasn’t the case. But for the moment, it is. And much like an insect bite, if you scratch at it, chances are it will get worse.
Here is an inaccurate meme to help you remember it.
It’s inaccurate because posting abusive messages online is not trolling. It’s just being a dick. But that is a different rant.
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Tags: online abuse, the internet, trolling
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 24th, 2013 at 11:44 am and is filed under Tech, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.