Unless this is your first time on the internet, chances are you’ve come across your fair share of nasty comments attached to the stuff you click on. People can hardly say anything nice in person these days, what makes you think they’ll show some decency online?
The folks at Wired start a new report on the most troll-ridden places in America by stating: Never read the comments. But Wired couldn’t help itself, and partnered with commenting platform Disqus to dig a little deeper into the data behind the bad behavior. From Wired:
Disqus analyzed 92 million comments over a 16-month period, written by almost 2 million authors on more than 7,000 forums that use the software. (So sites like Infowars and the Wirecutter are included, but Facebook and Twitter are not.) The numbers reveal everything from the trolliest time of day to the nastiest state in the union.
The Wired/Disqus map of the United States reveals Vermont to be the state that is home to the most trolls, with 12.2 percent of comments being rated as “toxic.”For those who are concerned about how offensive words are analyzed, the report mentions that Disqus uses Perspective API.
In other interesting finds, Wired points out that Bellflower, Calif., is 335 percent more toxic than any other California city, and Park Forest, Ill., is the most toxic city in the U.S. with 34 percent of the comments being hostile — but 99 percent of those comments come from two authors.
Washington state and Seattle both come in at 6.8 percent when it comes to toxic comments, which puts it near the middle of the pack in comparison to other locations.
As for prime troll time, the most talkative time of night is 9 p.m., with 10,971 comments on average. But things get dark from there in more ways than one — 3 a.m. is the most toxic time of day, as 11 percent of the comments are not nice.
And, because irony, it was worth clicking on the comments on Wired’s story for this perfect exchange:
