<blockquote>The upshot of this research? This is not your father's media environment any longer. In the golden oldie days of media, newspaper articles were consumed in the context of…other newspaper articles. But now, adds Scheufele, it's like "reading the news article in the middle of the town square, with people screaming in my ear what I should believe about it."

To be sure, we all retain the option of not reading the comments. Which, in light of the latest research, is looking smarter than ever.</blockquote>
via <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/you-idiot-course-trolls-comments-make-you-believe-science-less">The Science of Why Comment Trolls Suck | Mother Jones</a>.