Monday, February 13, 2012

Comment on Comment: Introduction

I love Guardian's Comment is Free. I love the fact that it aspires to provide interesting and provocative commentary from a range of different viewpoints (including those anathema to the Guardian's political viewpoints). I love that when someone writes a column that is, actually, nonsense veiled by fancy words, the chances are that someone else will write a column to point it out. I love it.

What I loathe are the comments beneath the Comments.

Usually I have enough willpower to stop at the end of the article without scrolling down. That way madness lies. A seething mass of hatred and resentment. Peculiarly apolitical, loathing in equal measure capitalism and communism, feminism and religion. It seems to be the law of popular websites that intelligent feedback is drowned out in a sea of bile (see also BBC Have Your Say, where the comments are similar but much less literate). It is the law of the jungle down there, an that law is cynicism; anything less is treated with mocking disdain.

So rather than futilely post my thoughts on the topic du jour below the Comment, I thought I'd start putting them here. Comments on my comments on the Comments are, of course, welcome, but for the love of Pete, please don't seek to replicate the state of the comments on the Comments on Comment!

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