Few weeks ago I read Heinrich Böll's "The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum" [1] which is a literary reflection on how society and media treated RAF [2] sympathizers.
What struck me was how much the described trolling and toxicity resembled what we observe nowadays. The book and the setting is the 70's so the anonymous bullying and hysteria just materialized via letters, newspapers and the phone instead of social media.
Also it has been mentioned on HN several times that society didn't become more toxic - possibly even less. But more and more people gained access since the 90s and take the opportunity for abusing it in such ways. Also there are now troll farms and a single person without a job can spread poison like a gatling gun bullets.
What struck me was how much the described trolling and toxicity resembled what we observe nowadays. The book and the setting is the 70's so the anonymous bullying and hysteria just materialized via letters, newspapers and the phone instead of social media.
Also it has been mentioned on HN several times that society didn't become more toxic - possibly even less. But more and more people gained access since the 90s and take the opportunity for abusing it in such ways. Also there are now troll farms and a single person without a job can spread poison like a gatling gun bullets.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Honour_of_Katharina_B... 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction