Can’t we all just get along?

There is something truly weird about reading the vicious, hateful comments (422 at this moment) to the Herald’s apology — and, at the bottom of every page, seeing a come-on that says, “Join the BostonHerald.com community.” Yes — sign up today and you, too, can post an illiterate attack.

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11 thoughts on “Can’t we all just get along?”

  1. I didn’t even think Patriots fans could read. Who knew they could actually write, too…

  2. Quite a few people seem to be reading the Herald just after midnight. Or maybe it’s the same person?You’d think the Herald would use this as an opportunity to educate the public on how the news comes to be each day, and even perhaps win over a few new supporters in the process. But when your MO is based on flames, that’s usually how you go down as well.

  4. It’s amazing how many people there are who have nothing better to do.

  5. I didn’t sample too much of that thread (maybe it degenerated), but a lot of it was fairly reasonable disappointment at The Herald’s reporting standards.I daresay if you had 400+ commenters, some non-trivial percentage of them will be objectionable. I’ve been participating in internet discussions for over 25 years, and have seen far worse. And I can see far worse daily, if I go to Free Republic, LGF, Democratic Underground and even some parts of DailyKos and RedState.

  6. Dan, Vicious, hateful comments are the rule on the Herald’s website. Every I’ve read for the past few weeks (mostly about the housing bubble, but also about the fire in Southie that killed those two girls) had comments that would have to be seen to be believed.Much worse than I’ve seen anywhere else. –Bob Gardner

  7. But Dan, nearly every Herald article ends up this way. Not nearly this many postings, of course, but the “dialog” itself is no more poisonous in this case than in any other article. It really isn’t.

  8. Over 25 years, Steve? You must be older than you look. Were you on ARPANET? Or perhaps you’re including time spent on PLATO?

  9. I would say that when you troll for the lowest common denominator on the front page of your publication, that’s what you probably get.

  10. Everyone needs to get over themselves here. The Globe saw fit to quote the odious Herald blog after criticizing the single source fiasco, ending with:”‘You are a disgrace pure and simple,’ wrote one reader.Some blamed the paper for the Patriots’ loss in this year’s Super Bowl, while others called for boycotting the paper.”Analogous mistakes have been made by the Globe that never saw this kind of indignation expressed. So much for lower expectations in a tabloid.

  11. Yes I was on ARPAnet in the 70s, but for work, not for discussions. The first usenet groups I participated in (sci.lang.*) were in ’82. It’s surprising (or maybe not) how quickly usenet went from technical discussions to flamefests (talk.origins, talk.politics.mideast, etc.) even before general availability of the internet poured gasoline all over.And I’m even older than our host. Man, that’s old. Or so my kids keep telling me.

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