Why We Fight Online: Introducing “The Commentariat”
This article was originally published on Wonk Bridge
Analysing the Readership of Two Papers Through the Scorsese/Marvel Schism
I do not blame anyone who chooses to develop a severe mistrust towards a writer who not only dares to think about writing an article (not their first) that deals with the social dynamics of the internet forum, but who then dares to begin it with a misty eyed reminiscence of a bygone age in which forum comments were few, their posters erudite, and their respective tones charming and welcoming. And yet I must.
Look at this article from back in 2010 — a ‘pamphlet’ issued by Great Britain’s The Guardian (whom we shall shortly be inspecting further) concerning Lord Byron’s poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”. Whatever of the merits of the article, look at that section BTL (below the line), where readers may comment freely. Look at all that gloriously open discussion, how the contributors bring in new sources of their own for collective use — how polite, how civilised, all that. This is the image of a forum in which there is a collective sense among the participants of where individual responsibility lies for the sake of maintaining a pleasant environment — an online forum at that.
