don't read the comments

so you just finished watching an awesome video on youtube. or maybe you just finished reading some article on the internet somewhere that you also enjoyed very much. not knowing what to do next, you decide to scroll down and check out some of the comments. who knows? maybe you're even the type of person who will leave a comment. i don't recommend doing either. if you enjoyed whatever it is you just saw, your best bet is to close your browser and run. let the experience end here. comments will only degrade the experience. they'll never improve it. never.

sure, it's nice that the internet gives everyone a voice. totally empowering. the downside is that the internet also gives everyone a voice and there's a lot of stupid voices out there. it won't take you long to find a comment that earns your disliking... you will always, 100% of the time, run into a comment you wish you could unread from your memory. but you can't. you fucked up when you decided to take this voyage into the comments section in the first place. this is something you will never be able to undo.

most comment sections end up devolving into petty internet disagreements that go back and forth till one of the parties involved decides to call the other, "faggot," or, "retard."  it is when we reach this point that we realize, oh yea, this again, this won't get us anywhere. it never will. no one ever walks away from these situations a better person. this is never an opportunity to learn or grow. it'll always be anonymous people on the internet babbling on and on until one of them gets the last word. it's never who's right, who's wrong, or what did we learn... it's always about who posts last or who has the most people on their side. it's neanderthal-like tribal warfare on the most un-neanderthal-like platform. 

and if you happen to be the sorta person who likes to leave a comment, you should probably try harder to resist the urge. this really is more about your desire to be heard than it is about anyone actually wanting to know what you're thinking. before you left your comment, no one even knew you existed. now all they know of you is some silly thought you couldn't keep boxed up inside. that's what twitter is for. stop using your vapid opinions to ruin other parts of the internet. we don't need each other's help to determine whether what we just watched was awesome or stupid, a decision which is determined before your comment is even seen. we can all decide for ourselves. the most your comment is ever gonna accomplish is convincing other people to think you're an asshole.