As part of a series into the rising global phenomenon of online harassment, the Guardian commissioned research into the 70m comments left on its site since 2006 and discovered that of the ten most abused writers eight are women, and the two men are black.

Interesting article about comments directed at the journalists on the Guardian UK website. The most abusive were towards 8 women and 2 black male journalists.

The Guardian blocks the most offensive, but, from what I’ve learned from having a hugely active YouTube channel, not blocking the comments and letting the journalists know how to ignore, or even laugh at the absurdity of those comments, gives everyone a much better view of what’s going on in the world. You avoid becoming a vendor. And by leaving the bad comments up, others end up coming to the defense of the journalist, and it all ends up working out in the end.

But the journalists themselves need to be prepped on how to do this. Otherwise, free-flowing comments can destroy you if you are not prepared!

Source: The dark side of Guardian comments | Technology | The Guardian