The Question and Answer Board

[janice shell]

In a nutshell...Yes, it need to cater to morons. These sites are chopped full of them.

They are indeed. But that doesn't mean that will last forever. Maybe it'll one day simply be a relic of the "move fast and break things" era. I'm probably too hopeful.

But this is how that kind of behavior looks to me: A group of people at spending a pleasant evening at a bar. They're discussing topics of mutual interest. Sometimes the discussions become a bit heated, but not out of control.

And then suddenly a bunch of jerks arrives. They try to make a scene. The bartenders (this bar doesn't, unfortunately, have a bouncer) ask them to calm down. The jerks start shouting. They insult the other imbibers. They break some glasses, and a few of them make threats. Many of the early arrivals leave. Finally, someone calls the cops. And the jerks complain that everyone else was out to get them, and engage in dark mutterings about "free speech", a concept they clearly don't understand.

But the internet is not so easy to control.