Sir, – John Waters makes some good points in his column about the soul-destroying vitriol that one encounters when reading internet comments sections (Opinion, September 13th). However, I thought the issue of online comment nastiness was dealt with far more effectively and knowledgeably by Waters’s colleague Jennifer O’Connell recently (“Goodbye anonymity: let’s unmask the internet”, August 28th). She was able to address the issues without insultingly stereotyping her readers as a “lurking mob” or “a pack of rabid rottweilers”.
It’s not surprising that Waters should publish this piece a week after he was subject to much criticism and mockery, both online and offline, after his obstinate stance against the Dún Laoghaire parking wardens. He then used his weekly column as a platform to compare his actions with the dissident actions of Václav Havel against genuine totalitarianism. What did he expect? – Yours, etc,
JAMES GAFFNEY,
Bracken Gardens,
North Circular Road,
Limerick.