I don’t know how anyone can believe that, but especially now that we have access to so much information, news, and, of course, commenters, I really really don’t.
Look at any crisis. People divide into two extreme groups (and the middle, boring group). Those that go around trying to band together, help people, and sing Kumbayah and those that go around trying to rape and pillage. The first group can exist in normal, semi-civil times. They don’t have trouble finding an outlet. The second group is shunned during normal times. The anonymous, vitriolic comment is almost perfectly designed as an outlet for them. So there’s a selection bias. The good people are too busy in their normal lives to make anonymous comments. They don’t have the need that the rapers and pillagers have.
This simplistic view is probably wrong. Some people who might have no trouble spewing toxic text might also be the ones to lend a helping hand when times are tough. Unfortunately, there’s probably a few rapers and pillagers that leave the occasional kind comment too. Still, it’s probably reason for more optimism than you might otherwise infer from reading anonymous comments.
