Thesis: Although comments allow for users to spread their ideas and debate controversial topics, it is clear that they are a main source of cyberbullying. Comments should be moderated by a diverse staff to ensure that only positive ideas are displayed.

Examples: 

1. “Josh concluded by telling Megan, “The world would be a better place without you.” The cyberbullying escalated when additional c lassmates and friends on MySpace began writing disturbing messages and bulletins.” – supports my thesis because it shows cat fishing online and it shows how that would lead to other forms of cyberbullying. http://www.wtps.org/cms/lib8/NJ01912980/Centricity/Domain/742/The%20truth%20behind%206%20disturbing%20cyberbullying%20cases%20that%20turned%20into%20suicide%20stories.pdf

   2. “To everyone saying she is beautiful in all of the looks, I’m going to have to disagree. That last one, with everything combined, DEFINITELY reminds me of a meth addict.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnV5NYy8bAQ – this quote supports my thesis because it shows how cruel people are when posting in the comment sections. This wasn’t even one of the worst comments posted, it honestly might be one of the nicer ones compared to the other hateful ones.

   3.  “By their own admission, most of the staff, across the board, for Facebook and Twitter are both male and white, leaving the people in charge ill-equipped to determine what is or isn’t bigoted on their platform.” and “Due to the homogeneous nature of their employees, there are obvious missing spots in their policy procedures, simply because privilege means that you do not have to account for many of the various needs and cultural offenses that marginalized people of color experience.” https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/how-reporting-and-moderation-on-social-media-is-failing-marginalized-groups -this supports the second part of my thesis about diversity in the staff of social media sites. Moderation is a nice thought but to get it done it needs to be fair and include all cultures.

   Moosa’s Article: 

1. “Every week brings a new reminder women are not welcome-especial on the internet”- this quote supports my thesis because most of the cyberbullying happens to girls, not saying it doesn’t happen to men too but its more redundant with women.
2. “The major thing isn’t anonymity so much as it is non-accountability: there is no tangible, negative consequence for treating someone awfully.” – this quote supports my thesis because it shows that it makes it easy to cyberbully since it is behind closed doors.
3. “readers should be thankful they’re allowed to comment directly on the site” this quote does not support my thesis because he does not think that users should not be commenting their opinion. I believe that people can comment their opinions as long as they present it in an educated manner.

In “Comment Sections are Poison: Handle with Care or Remove Them” Tauriq Moosa explains his opinion on comment sections. He believes that comment sections should be moderated, and if not moderated, taken out completely. I personally disagree with Moosa’s statement and I believe comment sections should be left the way they are. A majority of comments on the internet are positive. When comments become negative it’s usually on a post that is controversial and takes place between two people of very strong opposite viewpoints. But, it is always good to have debate and debate would be heavily diminished with the destruction of comment sections.

examples:

I decided to type in “dancing” on youtube. Something I thought was very basic and would bring up a post will many comments. The first post that came up was a clip from dancing with the stars. A couple of examples of comments are: “I simply cannot get enough!!! I smiled through the entire dance!!! =-D” with a sub-comment: “me too and i didn’t even realize until i read this HAHA”. This shows people positively connecting through comment sections, something that happens often, especially on social media. I went through 115 comments and did not find any negativity.

I very simply went through my Instagram feed and looked at photo’s from friends and photos/videos of large accounts with millions of followers. None of my friends photos had a single negative comment. But a particular account has been asking which NBA teams/players are better. It sparks very healthy debate, obviously with some negativity because it is an argument between two loyal sports fans, but it is good negativity. It gets people to interact over things the are passionate about without even knowing each other.

I actually found a comment on Moosa’s article that heavily relates to what I’m trying to say. It reads, “Yes. Ignore the comments. I want to maintain my authority. The public should not be able to raise it’s voice against me.” The line that particularly enhances my point is “I want to maintain my authority”. I feel it is important for people to be able to share their opinions without moderation. It will make for a more genuine internet.

Moosa’s Article:

“Recently, however, a colleague penned a piece that defended a woman – it doesn’t even matter which woman or what context. Every week brings a new reminder women are not welcome – especially on the internet”. This excerpt is extremely general, and while extremely negative and something I disagree with, it shouldn’t be the basis to remove all comment section or moderate comment sections.

“Because comment sections exist, people believe it’s a free soapbox on which all opinions – even awful ones – are given voice and space…” Of course all opinions should be given voice and space! It is our right as human beings to express the way we feel even if someone disagrees with us.

“We have a clearly defined goal,” they told me. “We seek an open, friendly and inclusive space. We’re a support group. When you keep that goal in mind, it’s easy to see how to moderate a thread. If someone’s attacking another user, it’s pulled. If someone cries ‘Fake’ it’s pulled. If someone says, ‘This is so typical of this ethnicity’ it’s gone.” I think this is a good happy-medium. It gives a spot for everyone. For people like Moosa, it means there is a site where they don’t have to see comments they would rather not see. But, on the other hand, it doesn’t completely erase comment sections for people like myself who likes to read every unmoderated comment.

In Moosa’s article “Comment sections are poison: handle with care or remove them”, Moosa argues that comment sections without moderation can only bring harm and hatred. He suggest that these comment sections be filtered heavily or we get rid of them entirely. His main point is that these articles don’t do anyone justice and bring no positivity to the internet. I happen to disagree with Moosa and believe that by focusing on the negatives of the internet, people overlook the positives of the internet and the need for balance on the internet. There are evils in the world but there is also a lot of good. The world is filled with balances so why would the internet be any different? People need constructive criticism and having the knowledge of flaws makes people improve.

“this episode is the best one I’ve seen funny as hell .”

“This man, from his voice, to his jokes, to his moustache, is a legend that you need on again.”

“Neil deGrasse Tyson STILL my fav person ever”

I found these positive comments on a variety of videos that were meant to be funny and engaging. People love to be happy and I think the majority of content on the internet is there to put a smile on someones face.

“As much as we should be treated equally, in reality, we come from backgrounds where we’re not –”

“in this assertion, the internet, too, becomes an amoral wasteland where only the “fittest” survive – and by “fittest” we usually mean individuals who rarely face prejudice or hostility premised on their gender, race, etc.”

“Just as we shape our social lives in physical space, we can shape our digital space. ”

These quotes are from Moosas article and I did not choose them because I agree with what he is saying but because they are all claims that can be talked about. Everyone did grow up in a different background and everyone has different values so how can a person be grouped with the rest of the internet when they might not even be offended by any comments. He also says that we can shape our digital space and I agree with that but in a different way. I think that shaping our digital space means to actually do just that. We have the choice to look or not look at whatever we want.

Tauriq Moosa’s article “Comment sections are poison: handle with care or remove them”, explains the dangers of the comment section. Moosa says that the comment sections are filled with hurtful and useless comments and that their is no need for them. Although I agree with Moosa up to a point, I cannot accept his overriding assumption that we should get rid of the comment section all together. Moosa says the comment section “sits there like an ugly growth beneath articles, bloated and throbbing with vitriol.” He believes that the comment sections fuel hate with racist and sexist comments. “It groans as hatred expands its force, waiting for any point of dissent to break it – to unleash its full fury on targets who dare convey some measure of civility or dissent (if you want almost guaranteed hate, be a woman).” But comment sections can also be helpful. Not everyone on the internet is a troll that writes hurtful comments. We should let this small percentage of people ruin the comment sections for us. I once looked up a forum called “When I connect my laptop to TV via HDMI cable, I have sound on laptop but not through TV”.  There were many comments but, I noticed something immediately. There was not one hurtful comment. The person who started the forum asked “I connected my laptop to my TV through an HDMI cable, the sound goes through the laptop, but not through the TV. I checked in control panel under playback, and right clicked to show disabled devices, and the TV isn’t listed. Any ideas to a solution?” Now I thought that people would be rude and not helpful, but that is the exact opposite of what happened.

In Moosa’s article “Comment Sections are poison: Handle with Care or Remove Them” he argues that comment sections should be heavily monitored or removed. His reasoning is that they do nothing but provide a anonymous way for people to spread hate to oppressed groups without consequence. After reading his arguments I agree with Moosa, comment sections are a cesspool of misogynistic and derogatory statements.

One quote that stuck out to me was “Don’t feed the trolls,”. As stated in the article this advice is geared to protect the people leaving bad comments. It makes the users who area actually leaving kind and constructive comments play by the wrong doers rules.

The second quote is made by Adam Lee “Unmoderated comments will never work” he then goes on to explain his reasoning in that there are too many bad people and eventually the bad comments drown out the good. And that is totally true. People do not pay attention to the few good comments compared to the hundreds of bad ones.

The third quote is the the second to last section in the article. “It’s about time we combated entitlement by prioritising safety, solidarity and quality (as places like CreepyPMs do) over so-called “free speech”, that benefits only the loudest and usually most vile,”. I think that it is time to combat the hate on the internet. Especially because when the internet was first becoming popular people had a optimistic, almost naive, dream about what it could be. These dreams have been all but shattered by the nature of the World Wide Web. But shouldn’t we want to mold the internet into what we all hoped it would be, a free space to share thoughts and come together as a global community. And not continue to allow the entitled to have control over the comment sections.

One Youtube trend that I plan on showing for my argument is the trend of creators making “commenting on hateful comment” videos. This is something that most channels have done. This videos call attention to the hateful comments that they receive on their channels. By doing this they are giving the bad the attention rather then thanking the people who leave a positive message. Jimmy Kimmel has a popular segment on his show “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets” where a celebrity reads a hateful comment about themselves. These comments are always attacking their character and sometimes wishing them harm or death.

In the article “Comment sections are poison”, Tauriq Moosa makes his claim that comment sections should be removed from the internet entirely or, at the very least,  strictly monitored. His disposition comes from his observation that comment sections are inherently evil and destructive towards women and minorities. I disagree with Moosa’s view that comment sections are poison because, as recent research has shown, comments are positive and instructional in majority. Moosa is mistaken because he overlooks all the helpful aspects of comments, including alternative suggestions that could aid the bloggers pursuit.

Beginning with an example from LiveScience.com, the site posted an article stating the health effects of alcohol versus marijuana, of course sparking a lively debate. Two commenters said:

“I’ve been smoking marijuana for 50 years, almost daily. 6 year successful naval service, 5 years in college with a masters in Nutritional Science and a 32 year career at a major university. My health is great. My mental and spiritual life is great. I’m lucky to live in Seattle. I can be selective and use a variety that is high in CBD and below average in THC. Life is good.”

“Lowered inhibitions? What a joke. As a recovering alcoholic, I’m not going to even gratify this article with any argument, just my thoughts on the subject summed up quickly: I’m sick of narrow minded people trying to find things wrong with weed. The only thing I agree with is operation a motor vehicle is dangerous after smoking.”

These comments offer personal accounts of people who have actually experienced the effects of both drugs. This is helpful, considering the author of the article could be writing according to estimation or minimal knowledge of the body, rather than first-hand evidence.

Secondly, FoxSports.com released an article regarding Jon Jones’ suspension from the UFC due to drug test failures. A couple fans responded:

“Sucks dude. Just plain sucks. For all the Bonesy fans out there, you let us down man.”

“He let me down, I was so looking forward to his fight with Cormier and he does this, I will still be a fan of his but I just lost respect for him.”

Since many MMA fighters admit to reading what their fans have to say, these types of comments could surely have an affect on Jon Jones while he’s out of competition. The remarks are not mean-spirited, yet critical, which could elicit a great behavioral response from Jones and help motivate his recovery.

Lastly, a Youtuber posted his cover for the song “Closer” by Ne-Yo. Responses were plentiful and of the same nature:

“You just melted my heart! :-)”

“Wow…..speechless”

These comments were in the majority and are certainly heart-warming and motivational to the singer. Removing comments from a video such as this would eliminate any sort of feedback; which is usually what the singer is looking for if they are posting their cover song on Youtube.

On the opposite end, Moosa believes:

“I’ve never really been a fan of comment sections and have often interrogated their necessity.” This shows that Moosa already refuses to give his undivided attention to the positive aspects of comments. If you go into your research with a full-fledged bias, it is nearly impossible for your mind to be changed by conflicting evidence.

“This is not only a high-minded opinion of yourself but also negates the entire 99.999999% of the internet that really does allow free rein to voice bizarre and bigoted views. (If the site really needed your opinion to survive, I assume they’d be paying you to writeatop the line.)” Many sites don’t rely on opinions to survive, and no one said they did. However, they are greatly appreciated and allow people to voice their opinions. This doesn’t consider commenters “high-minded”, rather provoked by interest. Moosa is too quick to judge the ego’s of people.

“It’s about time we combated entitlement by prioritising safety, solidarity and quality (as places like CreepyPMs do) over so-called “free speech”, that benefits only the loudest and usually most vile.” This response by Moosa is just ignorant and lacking much-needed evidence. There is no “special button” that makes the negative comments shine brighter than the positive ones. It’s a choice to the reader to recognize only the “vile” comments or all of them. If Moosa cannot notice the existence of both, his credibility is questionable.

In his article “Comment Sections are Poison: Handle With Care or Remove Them”, Moosa is stating that he believes comment sections are not beneficial to society and should be heavily monitored or even deleted. While I agree with Moosa’s belief that comment sections are often filled with hate and bigotry, I cannot agree that this should cause them to  be monitored or deleted. By focusing on the negative comments and hate, Moosa overlooks the ways that comment sections can benefit society by enabling us to collaborate and debate.

One way Moosa overlooks positive aspects of comment sections is by making sweeping generalizations.

• “it doesnt even matter which woman or what context[…]women are not welcome–especially on the internet.”

• “it seems to happen every time a woman writes something that somehow defends some aspect of women’s autonomy.”

Yes, there is an abundant amount of misogyny on the internet. However, this corresponds with the real world. Not everybody is a feminist and not everybody respects women. Is this right? Not in MY opinion. Is it reality? Yes. Moosa is overlooking positive aspects of comment  sections by saying that no women, ever, is welcomed. This is completely un-true. For example, an account on my Instagram feed is run by a group of women who share stories, give advice, ect. (all in a positive, empowering light.)

• “The goddess gang is a project in the pursuit of happiness. We spread positivity, social awareness, beauty tips, and advice. Join the wave.”

Comments on posts of this account read:

• “I can relate to this so much.” , “Goals”, and “Preach dat, so much love.”

This shows that women are not only welcomed, but encouraged to speak up on this particular comment section. However, this is not specific to only this account. One of the most hated (or loved) women in the media, Kim Kardashian/West, even has positive comments under her most revealing photos. While there also is hate, there are many comments similar to this one:

• “She is so BEAUTIFUL I could only wish I looked like her GODBLESS them both.” (referring to Kanye also.)

Besides the fact that there are positive comments and love going on in some comment sections, even the nasty ones are okay. Not everyone has the same opinion and upbringing. Moosa questions:

• “Why should we accept this?” (referring to the hate and misogyny involved in comment sections.)

I don’t believe you need to agree with every nasty comment you read, but accepting the fact that people come from multiple religious, political, and cultural backgrounds is a mature aspect of communication. Therefore, comment sections should not monitored, neither deleted.

Ok, this is the fourth time I have sat down to try and write this post. So i’m just going to keep this simple. I found as I researched that I agreed with exactly ONE thing Moosa said. So, I suppose i’m no longer in the vehemently disagree group, but because of this common ground that I’ve found with Moosa, I had to change a few things. My working thesis at this moment is as follows: “Comment sections can be wonderful places, full of healthy online social interactions, and insightful conversation. This is most often the case when there is a thriving community around the content that the comments are attached to.” Now, I very highly doubt that this particular version of the thesis will last the day, but that’s what it is right now. As for pieces of evidence, I have collected three comments from three different Youtubers’ channels:

#diablo Holden, on Markiplier’s “Don’t Starve Together, Episode one,”

“I love watching you.”

SEPTIPLIER AWAY, on CinnamonToastKen’s “What the Box? Gameplay.”

“YAYYY THEY DID ALL UPLOAD IT!!! I LOVED WATCHING THIS ON JACK, MARK, AND FELIX’S CHANNELS ITS SUCH AN AMAZING VIDEO I’M SOOO GLAD THEY ALL UPLOADED IT!!! (followed by several different kinds of emoji).

Savannah Rohloff on Jackspeticeye’s “Batman: The Telltale Series.”

“who else loves Batman? (and Jack)” *heart emoji* *heart emoji*

These comments will help me explain the community behind these Youtubers. I also found quoges from Moosa’s article that really narrow down my focus for my argument:

“Comment sections, to me, are the chronic pain centers of the internet.. . ”

“By removing comment sections altogether, you not only can get more audiences in terms of numbers, but more willing to come back as they know it’s a safe place.”

“It’s about time we combated entitlement by prioritizing safety, solidarity, and quality. . .”

This should be interesting to write about.

Silas Wheedleton

In Tauriq Moosa’s article “Comment Sections are Poison: Handle With Care or Remove Them”, Moosa argues that in order to create a safe and positive environment, the comment sections on the internet need to be moderated.  I agree that moderating the comments section is a necessary step in the right direction for removing negativity towards others on the internet because my experience exploring comment sections proves it.   

Evidence

“fuck you’re fat, kill yourself”

“I hope that he dies.”

“Come on Hitlery Cunton, put out more videos. Oh yeah, and let us COMMENT on them.”

“I hope he gets assassinated”

Quotes

“it became a platform of hatred, misogyny and all manner of awfulness. Why should we accept this?”

“Unmoderated comments will never work. There are too many cranks, crackpots, bigots and nasty people with nothing but time on their hands. And no intelligent, thoughtful person will take the time to jump into a comment thread that’s a cesspool (and who could blame them?), so bad comments inevitably drive out good ones”
“This assertion gives no humanity to victims: everyone is a blank, emotionless internet user, with no history of being targeted for her sex, race, sexuality. As much as we shouldbe treated equally, in reality, we come from backgrounds where we’re not – and we continue not to be treated fairly. Second, in this assertion, the internet, too, becomes an amoral wasteland where only the “fittest” survive – and by “fittest” we usually mean individuals who rarely face prejudice or hostility premised on their gender, race, etc.”

I agree with Moosa and his article because I think that if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all and a comment section should be a positive comment section where people can talk about things in a polite manner.  I agree with him because there is so much hatred on the internet.  The world id filled with hate already and if comment sections are kind and constructive it will benefit people more.  When comment sections are just filled with hate it and suicide notes its just rude and unnecessary. For example i watched this video

For example this guy says

“Fuck nick cannon. wtf has this man done for “the culture.” He’s a fucking tool”

What does this comment do? Hates on Nick Cannon for the reason of culture.

“he pulls out a legit burn, and cannon pulls the fucking race card? for shame cannon. for shame. racism goes both ways dude. If you don’t like it, don’t deal it out. BE the change and all that shit”

This video is getting a lot of heat in the comment section.

“haha nick cannon got ripped a new ass hole from Ld so he had to try an make a come back by being racist 😂😂 too much bro too much 😂😂😂”

People like this video and are giving there opinions but to directly put down someone on the internet is not ok. Construct people on their ability to rap and now who they are.

“They’re not going anywhere”

Comment sections are literally going no where!  You are literally wasting your time.  Moosa is so right it hurts.  Why are you going to comment hate or talk badly about someone when there is no winner what satisfaction do you get by this?

“This assertion gives no humanity to victims: everyone is a blank, emotionless internet user, with no history of being targeted for her sex, race, sexuality.”  Noosa couldn’t have said it any better there is no soul in these posts people are so cruel because they are behind a screen and wouldn’t say the same things to peoples face.

“One area we can manage – but seem not to – are comment sections.”

Moosa says that the one thing we can change and change forever is something we don’t want to change.  It is in our power to change how we act and comment sections are easily and can easily be changed.

KJOR