I dont think it's an issue just with yours or Elizabeth's blogs. It is everywhere. Have you read the O's blogs lately? Or God forbid any political blog.

People just seem so bitter and I feel sorry for them if a baseball game makes them so angry. Once a waitress friend of mine came over to me almost in tears because a customer got so angry over cold fries (which she gladly replaced for free). I told her that she should feel sorry for him that his life is so miserable that he could get so upset over french fries.

Maybe it's the anonymity of the web? Or people are just so bitter. I love the blog and most of the commenters, so please keep up the great work.

I blame it on global warming.

I demand that the picture with this entry replace your official Sun portrait.

Zeitgeist and weather. It's strange, so strange. Must be the season of the b*tch.

I blame violent video games and rap music.

Tyler - AGREED!

sadly, blogs more then likely = snark. I write a music blog and we don't usually get any comments at all, but when it is, it's usually some backhanded grammatical correction or someone adamantly disagreeing with us. Nature of the beast. welcome to the wonderful world of feedback.

here i am complaining about getting grammatical correction comments, and my comment is littered with grammatical errors.

ha.

I have the exact mindset as you Mike. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a compassionate side left.

I read/comment Peter Schmuck's blog too and it's a warzone sometimes over there. Just be glad the last name Sessa isn't instant fodder for detractors Sam.

WHAT? man, Fu....oh. Sorry sam, got carried away.
PS: wanna have some REAL troll fun? Do a post on O'Malley's favorite beer...watch the whole thing dissolve into a hateful political diatribe in like three comments!

actually, in all seriousness, the entire Sun talkkk forums and blogs are being taken over by hateful, mostly right wing posters. part of me thinks this is some kind of organized effort. Check out the "cooling center" post in the sun's talk forums for a chilling look at your "compassionate" American.

I blame Mother's. And bryanintimonium.

I'm telling you...work in a good Jon & Kate Plus Eight entry and we will see some fireworks.

negative comments = replies
replies = high comment number
high comment number = high page views
high page views = hits
hits = ad revenue

welcome to the machine.

It's all Al Gore's fault for inventing this dang ol' interweb thing!

Trolls are more fun than anything on the internet, especially if you know how to push their buttons and force a total meltdown. It's poetry.

I think this is a great place for a town hall meeting.

I think some people have a hard time expressing themselves in "real" life, so they do it online.

I read both this blog and Dining at Large frequently and have not noticed many negative comments here. I have noticed that people are sometimes offended by the stereotypes that are thrown around by the blog author and I wonder if there is a little too much of a blur between journalism and a personal community of friends (on a major newspaper). I guess the best recourse is the traditional letter to the editor if you don't like the what a blogger has to say or find the content offensive?

I think some people have a hard time expressing themselves in "real" life, so they do it online.

While that is true, its a cop-out. I'm very shy in real life but at least I'm civil on the blogs and wouldn't put anything here I wouldn't say to someone personally.

I think.

Hey, mikepcfl, the PCFL wouldn't stand for Panama City Florida would it?
If it does, glad to see another poster here from the Emerald Coast.

You think that the comments on this blog and Dining at Large are nasty? Check out David Zurawik's blog, Z on TV. Talk about passion on both sides. (And I'm being kind with my use of the word passion.)

I think there are broad mood swings in virtual communities that are not necessarily trends. It is the community aspect of this blog and Dining@Large that tends to create a self-correcting organism. When people get to know each other a little, they want to preserve that community. Other blogs don't have that sense of community and end up being just places to burn your trash.

Sam and Elizabeth Large deserve a lot of credit by setting the tone and encouraging dissent and diversity of opinion and some topic drift.

Some other blogs on the Sun are useless to me because they have a sad egotistical owner. I won't mention exactly who I am talking about, but if you go there and respectfully disagree with him you will find your random comments edited or randomly deleted. Lame.

Even though I don't have any kids, I stop by Charm City Moms once in a while just because Kate seems like such a cool person, I want to support her and occasionally add a comment. I think I terrify the mommies though. :-)

There is something in the air that seems to have given people a taste for raw meat and I totally understand. People were just crazy for the name of the restaurant in the Worst Service Ever post. I know that feeling but anger just feeds anger and then it's Thunderdome in here.

I also think it's unrealistic and frankly unfun to expect 100% on topic commenting with no interaction. Go to chowhound and see. It's okay for what it is, but it's not fun.

Side note: I was feeling kind of aggressive yesterday. I opened my first Clipper City Hang Ten Weizen Dopplebock. Oh baby, that's one hell of a beer. 10% ABV. It's really dark for a wheat beer and is just lush with herbal and spice notes. A big glass of happy.

As was noted, I havent seen too many nasty comments on this blog, at least compared to some of the other ones. Maybe because we all like to hang out at our own personal "beer summits."

And yes, I was stationed in Panama City, FL for two years before moving home to Maryland. Some great beach bars are down there.

Owl Meat I've been writing up a post on how I voted in CP's BoB 2009 and I said almost word for word what you said about Hang Ten. Gooood stuff

Great, Ryan. I like Loose Cannon and I love a good wheat beer in the summer, especially a cloudy one. I took a chance and got a case from somewhere before they ran out. It tasted nothing like I expected, but it is crazy good. It isn't often that I actually savor a beer. It was like a slice of spicy Christmas beer pie.

What, are you throwing blue-stained raw meat to the bloody Birthers, Sam?

When did you start talking about the Obama death panels?

Didn't realize the Charm City Meatheads cared that much about screaming against their own interests (that'd be the health care they need from all the Fed Hill back alley brawls).

I hear that Death Panel jobs pay well and have good health insurance benefits. Sign me up..