Last week, a friend shared a video. While discussing it amongst us in our group, I mentioned what some of the comments beneath the video said.

Friend 1: You read the comments?! Such diligence.

Friend 2: That’s our Shail, the diligent.

I shared the above yesterday and ended up rambling about diligence where as my intention had been to write about my habit of reading comments on public posts. So today’s post is about my comment-reading.

Yes, you heard, or rather read that right. I give up at least ten minutes, sometimes more, of my valuable time each day to read what total strangers on the net are saying about something or other. Crazy? Nah. I am just curious, almost like the cat, or even the lizard that got itself torched when it decided to get into spaces it did not belong. I want to know: What ARE people saying?

Most of the time my guess turns out to be right. Random strangers are being nasty to each other secure in the knowledge of their anonymity. It never ceases to amaze me how mean humans can be. You are probably thinking, ‘What a waste of time of valuable time, Shail!’ But guess what, it is not. Not really.

This reading gives me an insight into what a cross section of people are thinking. For real. This is true nature revealing itself with no holds barred, secure in the knowledge that no one is looking. It makes me wonder how many of those perfect faces around me are masks and what exactly could be hidden underneath.

If there is a calamity, a disaster, which side of them will take the upper hand? In case of a communal clash who among us will rise to the challenge and show themselves to be true humans? How many will turn into monsters and prey on their friends and neighbours? That there are indeed monsters living amongst us is a given.

Some of the comments amaze me at human nature in general. These are the ones where people comment on celebrities. I mean how does one look at a video or photograph and decide that this celebrity as kind, the other is spiteful, a third is arrogant et al? Or if someone is not smiling in a photograph how are they branded too ‘proud’? Then there are those who want girls to put on more clothes and those that shame people for looking the way they do, ‘fat’ and/or ‘ugly’? (Not my words)

Not all of it is negative though. Sometimes the comment sections are laugh riots. Sense of humour bubbles to the brim and overflows from one comment to the next. It doesn’t matter that people are from different countries or continents, they all join in as one. The word play and quick wit is amazing. Those are the kind of comments where I lose sense of time.

Sometimes the comment section comes in pretty useful. Believe me, reading a cross section beneath a post is all you need to know whether a post is fake or a hoax. At least a few of the general public would have taken the trouble to explain things correctly, or point out the flaws in the argument as it were. It’s a drop in the ocean of stupidity, but it is at least something!

Then there are those comments that have helped me understand posts that have confounded me. If you ever read a post and wonder, ‘WHAT the heck are they talking about?’ do not worry. All you have to do is scroll down and read a few comments. Tada! Some Good Samaritan or other has the answer neatly typed out for you right there.

So you see, reading comments has its benefits. The trick is not to get swayed, to always keep an open mind, to be willing to laugh and to never lose your cool, and what’s more, you might even end up writing a post about it too! 😉

©️ Shail Mohan 2024