For about the last 10 years or so, I have primarily read the news via the Internet rather then the newspaper. The Internet has been my source for basically everything over that period of time. Not surprisingly, that seems to be the case for a huge percentage of people.
Several years back, it became the norm for "reader feedback" via a comments section at the conclusion of every article. The initial thought was to get the readers involved and "feeling" as if they were contributing to something, which leads to greater loyalty and interest.
The results were good. The website (news outlet) would get increased traffic to the site because people that left comments would often tell their friends about it, thus raising awareness of a particular web site or a specific news column.
The writer of the article enjoyed it because they could receive immediate vindication about their article and they would also increase people's awareness about who exactly "they" were. Which has created several quasi celebrity Internet authors.
My theory is this:
At some point in time, with every venture or any idea, you get to a point of diminishing returns. Basically meaning, without corrective action or change, the initial idea / plan no longer receives a worthwhile return on investment. That "idea' actually starts to have a negative effect on business returns or public perception.
If you read any article on a major news type website today there is a comments section. When you click on the comments tab to see what others are saying about that particular piece, it has become a virtual zoo. When people decide to make a comment via the Internet, they write things they would never say in front of people. They insight hatred, nonsense, ridiculousness, or just crazy talk.
It is confusing to me, why they don't just shut off the comments feed to these articles. For any information that is to be gained by reading an article, it becomes diluted in all the nonsense that "cyber" commentators unleash on it.
It doesn't even matter what the article is about anymore. You will find a ridiculous division of wild comments and almost silly view points.
I am all for free speech, but in my world and in my mind, if you are not willing to stand up and make the exact same comment in person, you should not have the ability to make a written comment.
I also believe in different view points. Differing thoughts should be the fuel that creates progress and opportunities. However, adamant "hateful" opinions only further divide people from ever wanting to make a concession or agreement.
With millions and millions of people around the world viewing the same content and reading other people's nonsense type opinions we are falling further and further into a large division of groups. For whatever reason, people read these comments and get rilled up about them.
Here is the truth about what is happening:
Let's use politics as an example since it is a very divisive subject.
An author writes a story that delivers a factual account of the Presidents Actions. The story contains no bias, it is just relating information to the public.
Suddenly, in the comments section, you have certain individuals that make dumb statements that stereotype a Republican view and then you get equally ignorant comments that stereotype the Democrat view point.
To the somewhat non super political following reader (which is most people), they start to believe that ALL Republicans believe a certain thing or ALL Democrats feel a certain way about something else. Truth be told. The wild and careless commentators are not smart people. They are simply representative of random people sitting at home that enjoy inciting chaos.
But guess what? The perception is now out there in the public arena that certain people believe this because they affiliate with Republicans or those people believe that because they are Democrats. It is ALL Ignorant "sheep" type thinking.
Stereotyping has NEVER been a good idea. It still isn't. With gender and race, stereotyping is perceived as one of the worst things that can be done....somehow though, in recent times, stereotyping people based on political thoughts has become accepted.
It's time to cutout the comments field from articles because it perpetuates "herd" thinking and has in some part contributed to many false judgements about other people. It's time for people to learn to form their own thoughts about an article or an individual again. People inherently want to belong to something, it makes them feel "safe." But belonging to groups based on false information and theories is one of the most dangerous things that can happen.
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