Many writers and publications are beginning to discourage comments to their articles due to the increase in incivility rampant on the Internet. The latest to shut off comments is Popular Science Magazine who said that vicious, insulting or ignorant "on line" comments can pollute otherwise intelligent discussions and undermine public understanding. The violators have been described as "trolls" and "spambots". Wikipedia states that "troll" comes from Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore so we can see that these individuals are not living in the real world. Further - a "troll" sows discord to provoke argument. The "spambot" is a new one for my ever expanding vocabulary. Just an automated computer program designed to assist sending SPAM. It seems that everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame but they want it every day. What did these "people" do before there was an Internet? Archie Bunker might have told them to "stifle it" - or perhaps they ended up kicking the dog.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/science/comment-ban-sets-off-debate.html
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