226 Part 2 Interpersonal Communication
THINK
ABOUT
THIS❶ Do you participate in
Internet forums? Do you
prefer moderated or open
forums? What makes you
prefer one over the other?
❷ Which is more
important, a free-speech
open forum or a managed,
productive conflict? Do
you think it’s necessary to
trade off one for the other?
❸ Why might a Web site
choose to eliminate
comments altogether,
rather than simply to
moderate comments? Can
a publication, electronic or
otherwise, still host lively
debate without offering
comment threads along-
side the articles it posts?Locking Down Trolls versus Free Speech
Internet forums are, in a sense, a grand experiment in free speech. A trip
to an open forum on just about any topic—from the new iPhone to Edward
Snowden’s NSA leaks—is likely to yield astute critiques and interesting per-
spectives—as well as lots of irrelevant, incoherent, offensive, and inflammatory
banter. Does the value of the open discourse outweigh the negative impact
of vitriol? In September 2013, the editors at Popular Science made a tough
decision in response to this question and shut down the comments section on
the publication’s companion Web site. “It wasn’t a decision we made lightly,”
explained online content editor Suzanne LaBarre in a letter to readers. “As the
news arm of a 141-year-old science and technology magazine, we are as com-
mitted to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of
science far and wide. The problem is when trolls and spambots overwhelm the
former, diminishing our ability to do the latter” (LaBarre, 2013). Indeed, a recent
study indicates that comments can influence the way readers perceive the
initial post. Specifically, readers exposed to uncivil remarks and personal
attacks made in the comments became more polarized than those who were
exposed only to civil discourse in the comments section ( Anderson, Brossard,
Scheufele, Xenos, & Ladwig, 2013).
Although civility in the reader comments are a concern for most Web edi-
tors, few have gone the route of Popular Science. But many large organizations
do try to limit unproductive comment threads by replacing open forums (in
which readers are able to comment freely, often anonymously) with moderated
forums, which trade complete openness for order. Forum moderators—com-
monly known as mods—set strict rules for posts, often review all posts before
making them public, and have the power to censor or ban specific posts. At
The New York Times, comments are reviewed by a team of fourteen modera-
tors who eliminate comments that are offensive, off-topic, or simply insubstan-
tial, in order to keep the commentary focused and productive. Webzine Boing
Boing similarly deletes posts that moderators find offensive. “It’s fun to have
disagreements,” explains Boing Boing founder Mark Frauenfelder, “but if some-
one gets nasty, we will kick them out” (Frauenfelder, quoted in Niemann, 2014).WIREDFORCOMMUNICATION
long time (Patchin & Hinduja, 2011). The perpetrator may not even be known,
and the torment can be difficult to escape (Dempsey, Sulkowski, Dempsey, &
Storch, 2011). The problem has serious consequences, as victims often experience
mental health problems such as depression, loneliness, and low self-esteem; drops
in academic performance and loss of relationships with peers at school; and a host
of negative emotions, including fear, anger, embarrassment, sadness, and guilt (see
Dehue, 2013). An extreme consequence among teens and preteens is evidenced
by the suicide of a twelve-year-old Florida girl, Rebecca Sedwick. After a dispute
over a boy, a months-long barrage of negative messages ensued, such as “nobody
cares about u” and “you seriously deserve to die” (Stapleton & Yan, 2013). Rebecca
finally posted on Facebook, “I’m jumping. I can’t take it anymore,” and the next
day she jumped to her death from a tower at a cement plant. Rebecca’s story