A Comment on Comments

Recently I have read an article on The Atlantic titled "About Those Banners at Old Dominion" by Adrienne Lafrance. The article was about the fraternity chapter that put up some very offensive banners. With news articles I like to entertain myself by reading the comment sections, but I noticed some very interesting comments being written. 

The most of the commenters I see agree that the banners can be offensive. I say can be, because some of the comments were that people shouldn't be so fragile, which is often met with criticism.  The main debate for a large part of the comment section was does this merit this type of media response. Some people say it does, others are concerned that stories about these banners might cause people to overlook other issues, such as stray land mines and woman having acid thrown on them. 

source: https://pixabay.com/en/fawkes-fawkes-mask-guy-anonymous-157941/

One of the reason I like to read comment sections is to look at the arguments people make, and a key part of that is how trustworthy they appear to be. Some of the people in the comments looked to have high credibility were those who are polite, offer thought out explanations for their opinions, and acknowledged the opinions of other while still being polite. On the other hand, you have people who's comments appear to have a low credibility. These people often start comment chains with a comment that only insults the article, without offering an explanation. They may or may not also be degrading in their reply to an opposing view, often leading a reply with a facial expression, such as an eye roll. Reasons for this behavior are numerous for example lack of quality control and anonymous posting. Despite this I do find comment sections to be a great place for people to discuss their opinions.