Over at iFanboy, Jim Mroczkowski wonders aloud whether the Comicsinternet became a nicer place to be in 2012:
At the risk of jinxing it, things seem to have quieted down considerably, at least around here. Around this time last year, I posted about the trolling problem in our little community, and that post brought out more hatred and vitriol than I ever realized existed; it was like I posted a sign that said “Don’t Feed the Bears” and everyone got together, tied me to a tree, and fed me to the bears. It literally put me off contributing to iFanboy for most of the year. Today, however, I cannot remember the last time I saw a comment and thought, “Ugh, this guy again. Why doesn’t he find something else to spend his time on?” In the end, the iFanbase remains one of the most positive and supportive on the internet. Those of us who work to keep it that way sincerely thank you; because of you, we have nothing to complain about.
Outside of iFanboy’s comments section, of course, there are idiots who seem to think that a plot development they don’t like in Amazing Spider-Man is something that it’s perfectly alright to issue death threats about, so perhaps things aren’t so rosy in 2012 after all. (For my money, between the craziness surrounding Dan Slott lately and the whole Fake Geek Girl thing that refused to go away, I think 2012 showed a worrying uptick in trolling and the extents to which trolls would go on the Internet, but that’s just me.)
December 20th, 2012 at 6:29 am
The Internet is a very strange and wonderful place. But there is just something so seductive about all that anonymity that leads people to say things that they would never ever say to a person’s face. Every dark secret emotion comes welling up, every nasty urge can be expressed. I suppose it may be cathartic or something, but boy can it be obnoxious.
December 21st, 2012 at 6:54 am
This is the same person who billed a not at all adversarial interview as “Spurgeon v. Bechdel”?
December 21st, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Graemecracker is an idiot to be blunt…he cant take critique.
December 22nd, 2012 at 8:13 am
The comics internet must seem a harsh place if Graeme reads his comments. On the other hand, to quote Molly Dodd: “Look at it this way – you deserve it”.
December 24th, 2012 at 9:51 pm
graeme pretty much does deserves all the disdain he garners…
January 1st, 2013 at 9:13 pm
About ten minutes after posting that piece, I heard about the Dan Slott death threats for the first time: “Well… so much for that thesis, I guess.”