Internet comments

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He Made Millions Selling Glasses—and Bullying Buyers

The 'New York Times' asks whether Vitaly Borker is at it again

(Newser) - The judge said he had never before encountered a defendant who returned "so quickly to exactly the same crime." The question is whether Vitaly Borker is now back at it a third time. Writing for the New York Times , David Segal dives into the Ukrainian immigrant's backstory,...

One of the Best Online Comments Ever, Explained
One of the Best
Online Comments
Ever, Explained
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

One of the Best Online Comments Ever, Explained

The Cut finally gets the full story

(Newser) - The Cut has finally gotten the full story behind what many consider the best comment ever left on a recipe article—or, maybe, any article at all. Behold, the comment, left two years ago by Sydne Newberry on the New York Times article relating Katharine Hepburn's brownie recipe...

Photo of Florida Cops Causes Internet to Die, Go to Heaven

The comments on the Facebook post made Gainesville PD chief 'blush'

(Newser) - America's finest, indeed. An Irma-related photo of three male members of the Gainesville Police Department has caused such a stir that the photo was updated to note "Officer Rengering is being placed into Cougar Prey Protective Care, similar to the witness protection program for his safety." And...

News Site Forces Users to Pass Quiz Before Commenting

NRkbeta staff says the quiz is making comments more civil

(Newser) - Pretty much every news site is looking for ways to make its comments section less of a cesspool, from linking comments to users' Facebook pages to just getting rid of commenting altogether. Business Insider reports Norwegian public broadcaster NRk recently debuted a novel solution: a three-question multiple choice quiz about...

Russian Man Could Be Jailed for 'No God' Internet Comment

He's been charged with hurting religious people's feelings

(Newser) - Wow, Russia takes Internet comments super seriously. AFP reports 38-year-old Viktor Krasnov is facing up to a year in jail after writing "there is no God" online. He also called the Bible "a collection of Jewish fairy tales" during the same 2014 argument on social media, according to...

NYT's Most Popular Comment Ever Was Written by a Canadian

It's an 'ode to Canada's greatness'

(Newser) - The New York Times website gets approximately 9,000 comments per day from around 60,000 unique monthly commenters, according to the venerable newspaper . Out of those hundreds of thousands of comments, we now know the most popular—and shockingly it doesn't include the words "libtard," "...

eBay Seller Loses Libel Suit Over Bad Reviews

Called a victory for Internet commenters' First Amendment rights

(Newser) - An eBay merchant who sued two customers over negative reviews in 2013 was ordered this week to pay more than $19,000 in legal fees by an Ohio judge, ABC News reports. Two years ago, Amy Nicholls bought a microscope from eBay seller Med Express. When the microscope arrived, she...

Let's Stop Allowing Internet Trolls to Be Anonymous

Slate's Anne Applebaum makes her case

(Newser) - It might be time for anonymous commenters to lose their posting privileges on the Internet, writes Anne Applebaum at Slate . The always controversial debate has been around for a while, but Applebaum cites new research showing that scores of nasty, anonymous comments "profoundly" change readers' perceptions about a particular...

Quit Calling People Trolls

 Quit Calling 
 People Trolls 
OPINION

Quit Calling People Trolls

Trolling is essentially what everyone does all the time anyway, Damon Linker argues

(Newser) - If you want to troll Damon Linker, just accuse him of being a troll. In his latest column for the Week , Linker calls the term "facile, vacuous, imprecise," and "insipid." After all, "everyone online wants to be noticed, have a say, start an argument, be...

Judge Orders Newspaper to Name Online Commenters

Defense lawyers think they were prosecutors trying to sway case

(Newser) - A judge in New Orleans has given the Times-Picayune website 10 days to turn over the identities of two online commenters, reports Politico . The judge agreed to the request by the lawyer for Stacey Jackson, former head of the New Orleans Affordable Homeownership program who is facing federal charges of...

Book: Fox Used Fake Online Accounts for Self-Defense

PR team posted comments on blogs, claims 'Murdoch's World'

(Newser) - When bloggers went negative on Fox News, the channel had a self-defense weapon at the ready: fake accounts used for posting "pro-Fox rants," a new book claims. Murdoch's World, by David Folkenflik, holds that during the latter half of the '00s, "PR staffers were expected...

Web Sites Liable for Anonymous User Comments: EU Court

Newser editors terrified

(Newser) - Web sites can be held legally liable for anonymous user comments posted on them, the European Court of Human Rights declared yesterday, in a ruling sure to terrify news sites everywhere. The case revolves around the Estonian news site Delfi, which in 2006 posted an unflattering article about a ferry...

Anonymous Comments Are Crucial, HuffPo

Huffington Post's real name solution is misguided: Joanna Geary

(Newser) - In an effort to promote more positive (or, at the very least, fewer awful) comments on its articles, the Huffington Post announced yesterday it will no longer allow anonymous comments—but that's a bad move, writes Joanna Geary in the Guardian . Keep in mind places like Egypt and Brazil,...

Don't You Dare Judge Amanda Berry, Internet

Cleveland kidnapping victim not immune from trolls

(Newser) - If you'd been imprisoned and horrifically abused for a decade and then heroically escaped, you'd think the Internet would cut you some slack, right? No, of course you wouldn't think that, because you've been on the Internet. Kidnapping victim Amanda Berry made a surprise appearance onstage...

Science Proves It: Online Comments Suck
 Science Proves It: 
 Online Comments Suck 
OPINION

Science Proves It: Online Comments Suck

Meghan Daum laments 'soul-killing' Internet chatter

(Newser) - Finally, we have actual scientific proof that online comments are the worst, writes Meghan Daum in the Los Angeles Times . A new study finds that such comments actually do have "soul-killing, society-destroying effects," namely: Rude, uncivil comments can sway the opinions of readers who are otherwise objective. The...

ESPN Website Commenter Arrested After Threat

Eric Yee allegedly said he would kill kids in post about sneakers

(Newser) - This time, an Internet commenter accused of taking things too far is in legal trouble. Police in California say 21-year-old Yale dropout Eric Yee wrote that he wouldn't mind killing kids who buy LeBron's pricey new sneakers . He allegedly made the comment on ESPN.com, which had posted...

Rotten Tomatoes Kills Dark Knight Comments

Batman fans freak over bad reviews

(Newser) - Rotten Tomatoes has stopped accepting user comments on Dark Knight Rises reviews after Batman fans unleashed their fury on critics who panned the film. Most reviews of the movie, which opens Friday, have been glowing , but the minority of critics who gave it a thumbs-down have been the target of...

Bristol: Stop Bullying Me, Internet

Gay-marriage blog post prompts some over-the-top responses

(Newser) - Bristol Palin just learned the hard way that darkness can lurk in Internet comment threads. It seems Palin's post criticizing President Obama's gay-marriage stance upset more than a few people, and they let her know it in no uncertain terms. In a new blog post , spotted by the...

NPR Unloads on Online Commenters

End-of-year lists brings out the worst in Internet comments: Linda Holmes

(Newser) - As the end of the year approaches, bloggers, journalists, and other writers whip up plenty of end-of-year, top-whatever list. NPR's Linda Holmes creates a list of her own: a look at 20 of the less-than-merry folks who frequent the comment sections of those lists:
  • The guy who is 100%
...

Beck to Fans: Don't Defend Me Online

Tells followers to cut vitriolic comments, pray for haters

(Newser) - Glenn Beck is shocked—shocked—at the vitriol he found in comments posted about him, and wants his more ardent supporters to turn the other cheek. The Fox host, digressing from a discussion on the Bronx gay torture case , said he'd been horrified to read blogs that viciously attacked him...

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