I was reading the comments at a new article posted on one of our leading sites. As always, the comments depressed me, somehow enough to trigger this article musing on the cause of this discomfiture.
What would you expect in the discussion following a news article of political relevance? Well articulated relevant facts, opinions, discussions and debates? But here are snippets of the flavour you get, consisting an overwhelming majority of the comments:
"feku, tu mard nahi hai" (at a fellow commenter), "Terrorist by heart..." (at a Lok Sabha contestant), "Muslims are taught to lie and cheat", "bloody traitors, her ancestors are congressi dogs"... and the list goes on.
This is not an one-off incident. Most comments (unmoderated ones, I guess) on news articles from many popular Indian houses show the same trend.
What is wrong here? The very fact that a person is able to log in using a connected device and post comments on a news article assures a minimum level of education. Why, then, this kind of self depreciative displays?
Venting of anger? But this is not a vocal exchange - and the time taken to type and publish a comment skims off the edge of possible instantaneous temper flares. Venting of frustrations? What frustration - against whom, and venting it where towards what effects? It does not really take an Einstein to comprehend that it is only the self, the commenter himself, who stands debased through such renditions!
Edit: I just realised that this is a post I'm doing a gap of more than 16 months! Long time!
What would you expect in the discussion following a news article of political relevance? Well articulated relevant facts, opinions, discussions and debates? But here are snippets of the flavour you get, consisting an overwhelming majority of the comments:
"feku, tu mard nahi hai" (at a fellow commenter), "Terrorist by heart..." (at a Lok Sabha contestant), "Muslims are taught to lie and cheat", "bloody traitors, her ancestors are congressi dogs"... and the list goes on.
This is not an one-off incident. Most comments (unmoderated ones, I guess) on news articles from many popular Indian houses show the same trend.
What is wrong here? The very fact that a person is able to log in using a connected device and post comments on a news article assures a minimum level of education. Why, then, this kind of self depreciative displays?
Venting of anger? But this is not a vocal exchange - and the time taken to type and publish a comment skims off the edge of possible instantaneous temper flares. Venting of frustrations? What frustration - against whom, and venting it where towards what effects? It does not really take an Einstein to comprehend that it is only the self, the commenter himself, who stands debased through such renditions!
Edit: I just realised that this is a post I'm doing a gap of more than 16 months! Long time!
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