Why Trolls Win With Toxic Comments

Hugh Pickens writes "The Web is a place for unlimited exchange of ideas. But according to an NPR report, researchers have found that rude comments on articles can change the way we interpret the news. 'It's a little bit like the Wild West. The trolls are winning,' says Dominique Brossard, co-author of the study on the so-called 'Nasty Effect.' Researchers worked with a science writer to construct a balanced news story on the pros and cons of nanotechnology, a topic chosen so that readers would have to make sense of a complicated issue with low familiarity. They then asked 1,183 subjects to review the blog post from a Canadian newspaper that discussed the water contamination risks of nanosilver particles and the antibacterial benefits. Half saw the story with polite comments, and the other half saw rude comments, like: 'If you don't see the benefits of using nanotechnology in these products, you're an idiot.' People that were exposed to the polite comments didn't change their views really about the issue covering the story, while the people that did see the rude comments became polarized — they became more against the technology that was covered in the story. Brossard says we need to have an anchor to make sense of complicated issues. 'And it seems that rudeness and incivility is used as a mental shortcut to make sense of those complicated issues.' Brossard says there's no quick fix for this issue (PDF), and while she thinks it's important to foster conversation through comments sections, every media organization has to figure out where to draw the line when comments get out of control. 'It's possible that the social norms in this brave new domain will change once more — with users shunning meanspirited attacks from posters hiding behind pseudonyms and cultivating civil debate instead,' writes Brossard. 'Until then, beware the nasty effect.'"

F U

[Anonymous Coward]

That's Why.

Re:F U

[dadelbunts]

I am now polarized against this story. THANKS!

Re:F U

[Internal Modem]

If you don't see the benefits of trolls winning with "Toxic Comments," you're an idiot.

not relevant here, fortunately

[Trepidity]

Not sure what kinds of forums they're talking about, but I'm pretty sure there isn't any trolling on any of the forums I post on.

Re:It's Obama's fault

[thomasdz]

The polarization is because of the left wing agenda pushed by Obama. You see it when the poor rise up and congratulate the new pope while simultaneously agreeing to farm subsidies for Monsanto

We have a winner!

Should do the same study, but without reading TFA

[raymorris]

The study had the subjects read an article and the comments. I'm curious what effect rude comments have when noone reads the article, so we can better understand Slashdot.

Thank you very much for your time spent reading this, ladies and gentlemen.

Re:You're full of arse

[Anonymous Coward]

We only use our surveillance on those who don't have the wits to evade it. We don't want them to rise up and send everybody back to the Stone Age. I know that you disagree, but if you had the intelligence to challenge us then you would also know the danger in disturbing our carefully controlled geniocracy that has allowed science to flourish for the last 200 years. Just go back you your porn, WWE, Big Gulps, and Justin Bieber. You'll be fine, trust us. We know what we are doing. And if you can't trust us, we have ways of dealing with that as well.

Baa!

Re:not relevant here, fortunately

[kermidge]

Ok, I'll bite. What's BSD?

Re:F U

[inode_buddha]

The fact that some Mac users are migrating to linux is *proof* that homosexuality is a choice, and it can be cured. There just needs to be a free enough market. But the dems will never allow this, with the need to fund their total-control utopia. Microsoft, on the other hand, cannot be cured; it must be killed with fire before it lays eggs.

Re:F U

[Penguinisto]

I score it 2 out of five, mostly because you rushed to the meat of your troll in your first sentence - it was like watching some schoolboy getting his first lay, only to ejaculate all over her panty-covered mons. A disappointment, to say the least.

You need to lead up to the troll. You know, like foreplay. Nobody likes a trap rigged with insufficient bait. ;)

Re:Can't win, so why bother trying?

[plover]

Jon Stewart pointed this out once when he noted that, "no Congressman ever got ahead by jumping on his desk and yelling 'be reasonable!'"

"You suck" is much more powerful than "me, too."