Social Media and the Internet 101: Trolls part 2

Check out our previous post on the topic of trolls: Social Media and the Internet 101: Trolls part 1

Sure, being mean isn’t new, but hateful, irrelevant and nasty comments have grown deep roots online. The biggest reason? The anonymity of the Internet.


Since the Internet’s beginning, users have been able to express themselves on all sorts of topics and all under a pseudonym. Anonymity allows online users to act in a way they never could normally.

Author Farhad Majoo explains on Slate.com why outlets should eliminate anonymous comments: Put simply, by forcing all commenters to attach a name to their comments, they'll be less likely to post mean or ignorant comments.

Other online publications are following suit with Manjoo's train of thought. For example, the Washington Post and New York Times are beginning to implement systems requiring users to register in order to comment. Even more sites are including systems that link that person's Facebook account to their comment so as to avoid anonymity.