The Science Of How Comment Trolls Influence Your Opinion
It's almost second nature to expect a series of trollish comments below any science story published on the internet. Generally, we like to think that these responses don't influence us; but this couldn't be further from the truth. New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that their tone can actually impact readers' opinions about the subject of the article.
Blog Comments Help Search For A Killer
On Saturday night, a woman named Betty Wheeler was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver near a highway intersection in Waynesboro, Virginia. As the scene of the crime was investigated, one piece of evidence surfaced: a car part (an air dam) that broke off upon impact (the image above). This is when the community of commenters around the car culture blog Jalopnik took action, and may have just given the authorities some valuable information about the case.