Trolls: from Internet Fuckwads to opinion shapers

March 17, 2013 7:21 AM

Crude comments and concern: Online incivility's effect on risk perceptions of emerging technologies. A study by researchers of University of Wisconsin Madison shows that internet trolls can polarize (and in certain cases reshape) the opinions of lurkers, depending on their background. Additional comments from the authors: Simply including an ad hominem attack in a reader comment was enough to make study participants think the downside of the reported technology was greater than they’d previously thought. (via /.)
posted by elgilito (2 comments total)

I think this is a double.
posted by infini at 7:23 AM on March 17, 2013

Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism -- which is true, but they miss the point.

posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 7:32 AM on March 17, 2013