The Threat Facing Online Comments

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
Are we heading towards an internet that bans online comments? Click the comments link below to share your thoughts on the subject....while you still can. ;)

While comment threads can provide a snapshot of a range of opinions and a place where readers can contribute to a collective conversation, it is also clear they can be dysfunctional places where the weird meet the weird and get weirder. The borderless nature of the web means it can be hard to avoid the ranting bigots and creeps we would ordinarily shun in the real world.
Click to expand...
 
It would certainly be nice to get rid of the trolls and constant entrenched "I'm right, you're wrong" back-and-forth bickering, litigation is not the answer. A website operator should not be able to be sued for what someone else says. It's like suing the movie theater because someone yelled "FIRE" and your kid got trampled when people panicked. It's not the theater's fault someone decided to be a prick, nor should the theater be punished if they can't figure out who did it. The same kind of sanity should apply to online content.

There's a dark side to the removal of anonymity that is not being considered by a lot of these proponents like Huffington Post as well. If one user decides they don't like the opinion of another user, and if one of them is a bit more clever with their words than the other, that that less clever party says something a certain way, then you end up with a situation of one commenter having the means to sue another commenter for libel and defamation. Now take that to the next level, where people start suing each other over political opinions, religious affiliation, etc. Is that really what people want the internet to become?
 
I just love how they can consider opinions and text to be so threatening. If you don't agree with someone's post, just ignore it. And the community voting options of thumb up thumb down can show consensus regarding someone's opinion.

Its usually the liberals that are the worst offenders, which is so ironic since they hypocritically preach tolerance yet won't tolerate anyone with an opinion that differs from their own.

Aside from realistic death threats ("I'm going to come to your house on XYZ street and kill your family") type of crap, there's simply no need for heavy handed censorship on the internet. Sticks and stones.
 
MisterHipster said:
No, I don't think so. Comments will be around a good long while, if not forever.
Click to expand...
... until user IP addresses are logged and users are tracked down and sued or arrested for comments and reviews that relate to the following:

  • loss of business
  • loss of sales
  • death of another person such as suicide
  • falsified terrorist threat (even if jokingly)
  • pretending to be someone else
  • bullying
That's the future of online comments and reviews after looking at current events these days.
 
What I really hate is the trend where sites require you to use a Facebook login to be able to comment. :rolleyes: No, thanks.

In September last year the Huffington Post announced that all commenters would be required to link their Huffington Post profiles to Facebook accounts verified with a phone number and have their real names displayed when commenting.
Click to expand...
 
I miss the days when I could read a news story or other article without having to see people's idiotic fucking comments. If I wanted to hear stupid shit, I would have gone outside.
 
I sometimes watch the comments on BleacherReport and CNN. They're usually:

- Lots of jokes (or comments, which are funny but may be offensive).
- Comments telling the humor people how offensive their comments were.
- Something racist
- Something about god and how god will heal their souls.
- Someone telling the god person that their god is bad.
- Obama gets blamed
 
Megalith said:
I miss the days when I could read a news story or other article without having to see people's idiotic fucking comments. If I wanted to hear stupid shit, I would have gone outside.
Click to expand...

Just don't read them? YouTube is a cluster fuck of comments, and I've almost forgotten they even exist.
 
Ashbringer said:
Just don't read them? YouTube is a cluster fuck of comments, and I've almost forgotten they even exist.
Click to expand...
Gotta disagree. The top comments on youtube are usually far better than the stupid videos themselves, especially of the self-indulgent narcissistic douches that represent the majority of uploaders (the rest is really just pirated media).

Break comment section used to be hilarious, but then they decided that everything non-PC had to be deleted, and they started stealth banning users left and right (they think they're commenting, but its invisible).
 
Just hide behind 7 proxies if you're planning on saying something illegal.
 
Simple four-step process:

1. Mandate that all account registrations to be tied to a name, address, SSN, etc.
2. Allow for all accounts to use pseudonyms in public.
3. Bigoted comments instantly result in a complete reveal of the poster's personal information.
4. Force poster to take responsibility for what he said.
 
Red Machine D said:
Simple four-step process:

1. Mandate that all account registrations to be tied to a name, address, SSN, etc.
2. Allow for all accounts to use pseudonyms in public.
3. Bigoted comments instantly result in a complete reveal of the poster's personal information.
4. Force poster to take responsibility for what he said.
Click to expand...
That's a great fear machine you have there. Make an off colored remark on the internet and have your life ruined.

Because whats the alternative, people can exercise their freedom of speech? This is unacceptable, heads will explode. Dissenters MUST be silenced!
 
Red Machine D said:
Simple four-step process:

1. Mandate that all account registrations to be tied to a name, address, SSN, etc.
Click to expand...

People will stop visiting a website that tries that, readership will nose dive, ad revenue will tank, website will die. Just because its a solution to a problem doesn't mean its the correct solution.
 
BTW, I have to ask people here... what is a comment at its core?

Is it not just a way to put a THOUGHT to words? And yet we have people here that condone thought police? The lesson being that you fall in line behind the mob or face the consequences. What kind of bullshit conformity culture is that where any deviation from the dominant power at the time must be silenced?

Sure, the liberals LOVE this concept, since they are currently in power and control the majority of media outlets. Lets say some Catholic says something about how homosexuality is a sin... BIGOT! SILENCE HIM! But what if that same culture existed when the accepted norm is that homosexuality WAS morally wrong and corrupt? Should the homosexual community have been silenced and threatened for making comments had the internet been in full swing back then? Such sickening hypocrisy... espouse freedom of speech, but only when its a synchronized chant of their agenda.
 
The Internet is, and should continue to be a bastion of anonymity; including the ability to comment anonymously. It is the only way to ensure that people can speak their minds without fear of reprisal. Yes, some people will use that anonymity to say tasteless things, but that is a tiny price to pay in comparison to having everything we say online not only recorded for all time as a matter of record (which, is already happening thanks to corporate intrusion and governments who find it convenient), but ascribed to your "meatspace" identity. Imagine if something you said on this very forum a decade back could be ascribed to your meatspace identity and used, likely out of context, to undermine some element of your life?

Anonymity is one of the greatest aspects of the Internet, and any and all threats to it should be stopped. Its bad enough when people use fear (of finding terrorists etc..) to justify taking away such an important paradigm, but it exponentially more hideous when someone asserts that "sometimes people say bad things" is enough reason to castrate anonymity.
 
Of course. We're already criminalizing words and thoughts in colleges and in workplaces. The internet is the next step. Clamp down communications, and you have taken proper control of the sheep. Refuse them the ability to speak freely and openly, and before long they all tow the line, because nobody wants the...labels.
 
Red Machine D said:
Simple four-step process:

1. Mandate that all account registrations to be tied to a name, address, SSN, etc.
2. Allow for all accounts to use pseudonyms in public.
3. Bigoted comments instantly result in a complete reveal of the poster's personal information.
4. Force poster to take responsibility for what he said.
Click to expand...

Step #1, grow up. You will never avoid people with opinions different then yours, and most of it will be absurd. Sometimes you must bow to the absurd. We risk having one opinion that only matters, and we believe it to be correct. To the point at which subjects like gay marriage and abortions have 1 view and it happens to be correct, so say the majority.

That's why websites like 4chan exist, because those people need a safe haven for themselves.
 
I view online comments about the same as people that rally in front of the statehouse, or in front of a company they don't like, or sitting in the bar after work. Yeah, they're there. Yeah they're saying (or screaming) ridiculous stuff most of the time.

You don't have to go to the statehouse to watch them. You don't have to stop in front of the company they're protesting and listen to their lunacy. No one forces you to sit in a bar you don't like and talk to people. By the same token, you'll never know the vast majority of these people by name/address/phone #, they're just people expressing their views.

I don't see why saying crazy shit (no one has to read) on the internet should be significantly censored, or why you should have to dox yourself to participate in the conversation. Particularly when a stupid verbal comment is quickly forgotten, while a stupid internet comment is forever.
Like these darn no-edit front page new comment threads!
 
CNN.com's comment section are full of retards who thinks they are funny, but whether such comments should be allowed or not is up to the owner of the site. I think it's fine too if the owner of a site chooses not to allow comments to articles on their site.

What I do not want is to see people getting laws and lawyers into all of these. If you feel the admins of a particular site isn't doing a good enough job of moderating their comments, then don't use the site. We don't need laws to dictates stuff like "how closely websites need to police comments and whether they should have to predict when a story will attract defamatory posts" (quoted from the linked article).
 
Simple solution, if you (website) don't like the comments, Require usernames, ban usernames, if it continues, then IP-ban the commenters. No need to tie this into real-word issues (especially since a large number of negative commenters are likely to be teenagers and it's a huge liability to attack them until they hit 18 years old or are in a foreign country, or...(etc))
 
as a nonconformist ill cuss, slander, name calling, point fingers, tell the truth even if they don't like it anyways.
 
P4B said:
as a nonconformist ill cuss, slander, name calling, point fingers, tell the truth even if they don't like it anyways.
Click to expand...
Until you're forced to do so with your real name, which happens to easily come up in a Google search, and your boss or HR informs you that its been brought to their attention that you don't represent the values and spirit of XYZ company and they have to let you go... perhaps for something you said seven years ago you tapped away on your phone at a bar after having a few.

And with that kind of atmosphere, just like in Soviet Russia, you learn to keep your mouth shut and stay with what is politically correct for the party in power.
 
Lethal said:
What I really hate is the trend where sites require you to use a Facebook login to be able to comment. :rolleyes: No, thanks.
Click to expand...

Yep, a number of sites that I frequent has Facebook integration commenting. It really discourages people from commenting on an article because those people who want to comment first want anonymity. A site with simple alias registration? Tons of comment. A popular business journal that's well-read and commented on in public in the Seattle area regarding Boeing gets zero comments (Facebook) vs the Seattle Times on Boeing matters gets 100+ comments per article (anonymity). I suspect that the editors who integrate Facebook do not want anonymous commentators to contradict their writing.
 
Red Machine D said:
Simple four-step process:

1. Mandate that all account registrations to be tied to a name, address, SSN, etc.
2. Allow for all accounts to use pseudonyms in public.
3. Bigoted comments instantly result in a complete reveal of the poster's personal information.
4. Force poster to take responsibility for what he said.
Click to expand...

Shall we put them in the stocks? Throw tomatoes at them? Those dirty heretics that don't agree with the colony?

Or perhaps we'll just get them fired from their job. That's standard punishment now for thinking the wrong thing, right?
 
OMG the brown shirts are coming because I stated obama and his American hating wife are terrorist. I will post anything that I believe to be factual and I feel that I have proof of said statement, I will stand mu ground and not be bullied by this liberal administration. If I and other folks get searched out and sent to prison for my opinion then the Civil War II is close at hand. I used to enjoy going to huffpo and debating with people, now they want to force me to log in with FB and moderate anything remotely anti obama . Our government needs to focus on getting our soldier out of mexico and closing the border, protecting our credit cards from hackers and stop giving a crap about what I post on the internet unless it is a direct threat or terroristic action in progress.
 
Red Machine D said:
Simple four-step process:

1. Mandate that all account registrations to be tied to a name, address, SSN, etc.
2. Allow for all accounts to use pseudonyms in public.
3. Bigoted comments instantly result in a complete reveal of the poster's personal information.
4. Force poster to take responsibility for what he said.
Click to expand...

You are forgetting the nature of the internet.


I could post a comment about how puppies, kitties are the greatest thing in the world, how everyone is special and unique and beautiful. (basically just whatever feel good fluff that would never offend anyone that's even 1/2 normal) Yet there would be the batshit stupid people who would down rank it, argue with it, and by your system now have access to my name, address, and SSN. My life is ruined now because I told the world puppies and kittens are awesome?

Yeah -- that sort of system isn't going to fly.


Like most other problems in the world today if people would just raise their children right, to respect others, and punish them when they exhibit doucebag/asshat behavior... the world would be a better place in 1 generation. We have been raising children the past few decades that it's "okay" to act on your primal retard urges, to be selfish, and to be dicks. When a parent spanks the hell out of their kids to teach them a lesson, and wind up in jail. What did the child learn? They learned that whatever bad thing they did, was actually okay to do in the grand scheme of the universe. Being raised with the notion there are never any negative consequences to your actions, puts us in exactly the type of world we live in now.

At the same time teach them that social media comments, or anything of that nature, is just text on a screen. Your computer monitor can be a window into a very ugly world of people's inner thoughts. If you don't like what you see, be smart enough to turn it off and go outside and play.
 
iNeverFinishAnyth said:
Stocks? Tomatoes? Heretics? Sweeping hyperbolic generalizations?
Click to expand...

All he said was "force poster to take responsibility". When they leave it vague like that, I ask for clarification. As people in society have already deemed others unworthy of jobs or freedom for their views, the parameters should be well known.
 
In a world that is starved of culture, limiting peoples' ability to express themselves is draconian.

We should be encouraging people to communicate. After all, everything wrong with the world is due to lack of oversight and communication. A few distasteful, or even utterly horrid remarks, cannot be taken as justification to skirt the potential of communication.

IMO, piercing the veil of anonymity does not really add any value. In fact, it does the opposite. We need to protect people's ability and desire to express themselves.
 
AK0tA said:
OMGI used to enjoy going to huffpo and debating with people, now they want to force me to log in with FB and moderate anything remotely anti obama .
Click to expand...
You mean you used to enjoy saying "must be an obama voter" in articles talking child porn or murder or rape, etc. If registering with your facebook account was too personal for you then obviously you were just a troll and did not want anything you said linked back to you.

Anyway I actually enjoy letting the internet be the internet. The kinds of comments I see in the world remind me of just how psychologically dysfunctional some people are. For instance just the other day I was witness to a few people claiming the moon landing wasnt real and that the planes that hit the WTC on 9/11 were actually all CGI. These people are why I conceal carry, since they are obviously unstable and possibly a threat to my safety in the event they snap.
 
McFry said:
These people are why I conceal carry, since they are obviously unstable and possibly a threat to my safety in the event they snap.
Click to expand...
The irony of being paranoid about people that you describe as paranoid... The probability of a 911 Truther going on a killing spree are infinitesimally small.
Like most other problems in the world today if people would just raise their children right, to respect others, and punish them when they exhibit doucebag/asshat behavior... the world would be a better place in 1 generation.
Click to expand...
Or just raise their children to have a thicker skin and not have an outburst and demand censorship at the top of their lungs because somewhere someone said something online that they aren't even forced to read that offended them.

Its called tolerance... doesn't mean you have to like people you think are stupid, you just tolerate them. If someone is standing with a bullhorn in front of your house at 9PM, sure throw a brick at them. But quietly posting a comment at the bottom of some online article? How thin a skin do you have to have to be such a puss?

This whole liberal movement over the past decade has caused everyone to so easily take offense, sometimes when they aren't even offended as a power play. The "practiced outrage" favorite of mine is when Nicki Minaj says the N-word 41 times in a single song (lookin ass) she's considered an artist to admire by a majority in the black community, but if Eminem says it even though he's part of the exact same culture and context shows its not meant any different than Nicki they will pretend to be outraged and demand action or threaten violence. Its just very empowering to play the victim and feign outrage to censor as a power play these days.
 
Ducman69 said:
This whole liberal movement over the past decade has caused everyone to so easily take offense
Click to expand...
Uh, liberals are the one's promoting the most free speech. Conservatives are the hyper religious ones that want to ban porn, nudity, black people, etc. In a liberal society people say whatever the fuck they want, hence usage of the term "liberal".
 
McFry said:
Uh, liberals are the one's promoting the most free speech. Conservatives are the hyper religious ones that want to ban porn, nudity, black people, etc. In a liberal society people say whatever the fuck they want, hence usage of the term "liberal".
Click to expand...
LMAO! Yes, when your parents were children, liberals were not in power and were there to support freedom of speech be it civil rights, different political beliefs like communist proponents, antiwar statements, or whistle blowing. Those days are long gone, and there was a role reversal ages ago with the shift in power. The "protest zones" where you are allowed to protest or "no protest zones" entirely and employees right to voice their opinion outside of involuntary unions and so forth are liberal inventions, as are my primary point of censorship of language (where a whole category of language has been declared "hate language" and censored) along with public campus speech restrictions (is it really so threatening in some bible thumper wears a "Jesus Loves You" shirt) along with the destruction of livelihoods just based on a few words. Freedom of speech is something they will champion when it comes to pro-choice or freedom from religion for example (things I happen to agree with), but censored with extreme prejudice in liberal campuses when it goes against their ideologies such as pro-life or showing a Christian viewpoint or pointing out how much violence has been ingrained in Islamic culture of late.

Personally, while "in your face" protesters are something I find annoying, I'm not so insecure that I feel it necessary to silence such passive activities as wearing a shirt or holding a sign or writing a letter.

The concept of "thought police" is something liberals need to own up to, as its the beast that they created and abuse whenever its in their favor.
 
McFry said:
Uh, liberals are the one's promoting the most free speech. Conservatives are the hyper religious ones that want to ban porn, nudity, black people, etc. In a liberal society people say whatever the fuck they want, hence usage of the term "liberal".
Click to expand...

Liberals are responsible for speech codes on campuses, that punish students for using certain types of language. They're also responsible for preventing speakers from being allowed to speak at various universities(and I just love how that is called a "victory for free speech"). They're also largely responsible for zero tolerance policies at schools and workplaces, as they're the biggest backers of the lawsuit culture that makes single complaints so risky. They're also the ones that tend to stage these "shout-down" censorship sessions to silence people they don't like(liberal-on-liberal violence is scary).

Not to mention that liberals are the people most likely to shut down any conversation with "that's racist/sexist/homophobic/classist/etc" instead of continuing to discuss the issue.

Conservatives are only really bitchy anymore about sex and violence in television, video games, etc...and with the effective transport of visual media overwhelmingly to the internet, decency debate has pretty much evaporated. Nobody even talks about banning porn any more because of the massive distribution.

But oh yeah...conservatives do want to ban black people. I just saw a Fox News headline: "How Many Boats Will It Take To Ship Them Back?"

Liberals were free-speech, pro-drug, and anti-war when the Cold War was still on. Ever since, they have abandoned those ideals in favor of just telling anyone who disagrees with them to shut up or pay the consequences.
 
McFry said:
These people are why I conceal carry, since they are obviously unstable and possibly a threat to my safety in the event they snap.
Click to expand...

Like these people? Those enlightened progressive academics?

Now me, I conceal carry because crime is a reality for which one should try to prepare as best they can. I guess I should be more focused on potentially shooting people who posted opinions online that I don't like.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top