The hostility towards this guy in the comments is astounding. I already had low expectations for comments on blogs, but this took it to a whole new level.
Honestly, it gives the impression that some of the commenters are from the internet. As sad as it is, you can kind of expect shit like that from completely disinterested parties who just want to be assholes.
Wandering a bit OT, admittedly, but I feel obliged to push back against this notion. I know you didn't mean it this way, but I see it too often to wave away worse examples of abusive behavior, and it's just not healthy.
The "nicest guy" would not use language like "bitch" or "fag" in comments (to pull the first example I saw in that post's responses), because this implies an assumption that comparing the target to a woman or a gay man should be received as a deeply cutting insult. And this alone acts as enough of a cover for me to judge that book, really.
No, these are in fact rather horrible little people, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were in league with the perps who erased this guy's stuff for teh lulz or whatever.
Yeah, you're right, the behaviour is intensified on the Internet, probably because of a greater perceived sense of anonymity. On the road, you've got license plates, people with cameras, cops, the risk of getting into an accident, etc. to occasionally keep people in check.
But to clarify my earlier point, if the nicest guy can turn into a bad person on the road, imagine what a not-so-nice person can turn into.
