I recently wrote a letter to the editor of this paper (“Trump exposes ‘fake news’ media,” June 17). I try to express my views in a respectful, thoughtful way. I hope readers of this publication enjoy my letters and find them of value, even if they don’t always agree with them.

I’m also an internet news junkie. There are those readers of this paper who don’t understand what seems to be so obvious to most internet users. After something is put into print in your local newspaper people can comment on an article through the internet, and, boy, do they. These people like to take your thoughts and twist them. Many of them are as hateful and mean as they can be without being kicked off the website by the moderator.

It seems to me very few of these people can form a coherent thought long enough to actually contribute something of value themselves. They seem to be driven mostly by hateful speech and trying to inflict pain on the author with whom they disagree. That’s just our local newspaper. On some of the national sites they are so over the top with hateful nasty profane comments it would make a sailor blush.

I don’t have the answer. Our society doesn’t seem to have an answer. I think the majority of people are in still shock of how hateful and nasty these comments have become. The government is now looking at this issue. Facebook, Twitter, and others are now self regulating. I’m opposed to censorship, as I personally believe it creates more problems than it addresses.

Anyhow I wrote this letter mostly to inform those readers who aren’t internet users as to what is happening in the cyber world and to ask those who are internet users to use a little restraint.

 

John Hopkins

Manchester