Why Internet Comments are Worthless and Mean Nothing

It is fallacy to believe that a website’s commenting community is composed of a balance of negative and positive viewpoints.

A commenter space is more positive where users are subject to common banning. Where bans are less common, the negativity flourishes.

That is why YouTube comment feeds are ‘toxic’, while the comment feeds found on newspaper’s websites are generally more civilised.

For legitimate commenters, arguments with insults often result in bans and so do comments that criticise a publication.

Perhaps someone is frequently leaving negative comments on posts that don’t have many other comments on them.

Say maybe a commenter posts criticism in a harsh way.

Both aforementioned types of commenters are guaranteed to be banned on some sites but left alone on others.

It is for reasons such as these, that people tend to make a conscious effort to comment positively… and why negative or critical dialogs are not nearly as commonly seen as they would be – without banning and moderation neutering the user base.

People make the mistake of perceiving public opinion as in accordance with a specific platform’s commenter space. Comment conclusions from one platform are not indicative of anything but the platforms’ dynamics.

So, what people say on Youtube, Disqus, Twitter and Facebook can literally mean nothing .. in relation to overall real-world reactions.