Trolls. The cookers. The far-right. Those that compare drag queens to pedophiles. They’re always there, waiting in the wings, but we’ve noticed one thing. They care about their opinion so much, but can’t write a letter to the editor?
When we relaunched VicNews last year (it’s still a work in progress) we decided to turn site comments off, except in rare circumstances. Why? We’re a small, independent operation founded in 1992. We don’t have time to moderate comments.
We considered allowing comments only from verified users who provided a verifiable name and address by using the White Pages to prove they are who they are. Then dismissed the idea.
Then we decided we’d go ‘back in time’ and – as newspapers do – allow comments from our readers.
So, we went back to the “Letters to the Editor,” model. We said we wouldn’t accept comments via email unless you’d previously sent a letter via post. We also accept letters via fax.
And guess how many trolls, particularly those on Musk’s Twitter, Reddit and 4chan have sent a letter via post or even fax, given how important they think their opinion is. None.
Not one troll, right-wing activist, climate-change denier, race-baiter, TERFs and all the others never put a pen to paper, or even use Word to write a letter, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and send it.
They consider their opinions so important yet can’t be bothered to write a letter. Maybe it’s because it requires a real name and address, even if the address is withheld from publication.
Funny that.
