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Reading online comments of news sites is a sure way to lose faith in humanity - FACT!
Were people always so angry? Maybe it was less visible before the intarwub, when ppl babbled rather in pubs where debates could end in exchanging fisticuffs if things got too hot. Or is it new or at least reinforced by social media? Or does it just appear to be moar since sane ppl have better things to do than posting comments at online news sites?
A couple yrs ago I posted for a couple months on a Kraut news site's forum. However, I soon had enough of the irrational grievances that went way beyond any normal form of criticism. These days I stay away from it, but sometimes throw a brief look only to confirm it was good call to stay away from it
I mean moaning about stuff, specifically politics is probably as old as politics or stuff. I also don't care primarily about the particular angle of posters (leftcenterrightwhatever) as long it appears they are interested in actual arguments. However, these days the comments ar often marked by a specific sort of anger and grievance or even hysteria. If ya read these ppl it seems we live in the worst of all times. Or something.
Does this sort of talk have a destructive impact on public debate (which is not too unimportant in democratic systems, I've been told) or is it more or less background noise that always existed to some extent?
Were people always so angry? Maybe it was less visible before the intarwub, when ppl babbled rather in pubs where debates could end in exchanging fisticuffs if things got too hot. Or is it new or at least reinforced by social media? Or does it just appear to be moar since sane ppl have better things to do than posting comments at online news sites?
A couple yrs ago I posted for a couple months on a Kraut news site's forum. However, I soon had enough of the irrational grievances that went way beyond any normal form of criticism. These days I stay away from it, but sometimes throw a brief look only to confirm it was good call to stay away from it
I mean moaning about stuff, specifically politics is probably as old as politics or stuff. I also don't care primarily about the particular angle of posters (leftcenterrightwhatever) as long it appears they are interested in actual arguments. However, these days the comments ar often marked by a specific sort of anger and grievance or even hysteria. If ya read these ppl it seems we live in the worst of all times. Or something.
Does this sort of talk have a destructive impact on public debate (which is not too unimportant in democratic systems, I've been told) or is it more or less background noise that always existed to some extent?
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