Agro Culture

 I don't know if you've noticed this, but I have. I just haven't mentioned it until now. but Yahoo has put the kibosh on comments. Instead of finding that little spot at the bottom of their news articles where readers could vent their concerns, petty and otherwise, they find this disclaimer: "Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting."

That was way back in July. Interestingly enough, this was about the same time my wife began to implore me to stop malingering around the soon-to-be-ex-president's Twitter feed. For some time before that, I had been taking most every opportunity to reach out and flick someone's sensibilities, whether it was conservatives or gun fanciers or sports fans of one stripe or another, I was in it for the incitement. 

Perhaps, in hindsight, this was not the most useful way for me to be spending my spare time. As I have mentioned before, this habit I had was not so much about lifting up but putting down. I was as much a troll as anyone else who had access to a keyboard and a somewhat reliable connection to Al Gore's Internet. I was forcing my agenda on anyone who had the same penchant as I had for crawling over the debris at the end of an article about this or that goings-on. I would take particular satisfaction on a well-placed bon mot or exultation of some salient point. Having the sense to know that I wasn't really engaging in a free-flowing exchange of ideas was something I assumed everyone who ended up down there shared.

As it turns out, this may not have been the case. Apparently, this battle of wits that I slid into and out of so easily was not as simple as all that for many. As it turns out, Yahoo was one of the last remaining outposts on the cyber frontier where the spittle and hate flowed freely. All you had to do was nominally register yourself and off you went, free to spread whatever vitriol you cared to spill. Watch out for other's feelings, then once you have them in your sights, stomp on them mercilessly.

Which seemed like fun, or catharsis for a while. It felt like a relief for me to point and laugh at the not-so-vague insecurities of NRA members after each new mass shooting. It was calming to be able to write those things that occurred to me on the spur of the moment, in the heat of battle. Or what seemed like battle. 

Because there is currently a war of ideas taking place here in the United States. And elsewhere, I imagine, but finding a way to encourage civil discourse as tempers continue to burn brightly seems like a good choice. Or limit it to the extreme. Fanning the flames of discontent doesn't seem like such a good idea after all. There's no telling when it will be safe to have a comments section on a news feed again. 

This blog has a comments section. 

Go ahead. 

I dare you. 

Or, get your own blog and feel free to write all your feelings about bleeding heart hypocrites like myself. 

I can take it. 

Or leave it.