Quote: (05-11-2015 08:14 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:
Think how stupid the average person is, then remember that half the people in the world are even stupider. That accounts for the generally low quality of Disqus, Youtube etc. comments.
There's a theory that YouTube comments actually shattered a previously-unbroken "floor" of shitty comments on forums and websites.
Before YouTube, video on the internet was relatively rare. In the dial-up era, most places where you could comment were text-based (messageboards, BBS, etc). On text-oriented sites, no matter how stupid you are, you still have to be literate in order to participate.
Enter YouTube. A new way for the masses to consume the internet, now presented in passive, video format. Now all these video-oriented users with limited intellect had a place to hang out. They could watch stupid videos all day. They're not completely illiterate, of course - so when presented with a textbox beneath the video they're watching, they'll gladly mash some "lol derp f%cking c&nts!cle" comment into it.
So Youtube brought a new class of illiterate user onto the internet and offered them the chance to join in the dialogue.
These idiots then feel like a member of the online community and find their way to other websites and forums.
And to be fair, RoK puts out great content and in addition to some inflammatory shit which invites the lowest common denominator to mash their keyboards.