David Cooper

Like, is this human?

I don't consider The Guardian a particularly polarized media outlet, but there are many out there, especially here in North America.

On those, the comments get even wilder, I find, especially when they're unmoderated.

Is there a way we can use technology to get people to cool off?

Like, I don't know.

I've been on the platform Reddit, and it sometimes says, hey, you've commented too much, you've got to wait 10 minutes.

Or maybe like some sort of captcha image where the user has to prove they're not a robot, but that process might take 30 seconds.

Side note, not having bots comment might also be a good thing.

I'm not sure where that enters the conversation, but like what I'm asking, is there a cooling period we can enforce users to have?

And if we do, they might be less hateful.

Yeah, I mean, philosophically, comments online are supposed to create this democratic conversation.

But in reality, hateful stuff gets amplified.

Hateful stuff, it seems like it gets posted first, which can then set the tone for the whole thing.

And there's this perverse incentive.

These outlets, maybe not The Guardian specifically, but these outlets want the engagement.

They want the clicks.

That's advertising money.

Comment sections online from everything you've learned.

Are they what they're supposed to be?

Are they this democratic forum for, you know, healthy debate or do they end up being kind of a cesspool?