Question:

Why do web comment threads below blogs, youtube videos, news stories and the like act as forums- magnets even- for the vilest of bigotry? Case in point: The dueling democrats are provoking a particularly colorful outpouring of e-misogyny and e-racism, though decidedly more of the former.

Maybe:

1. The internet is a bigot magnet. The crass are overrepresented in the surfing pool.

2. Having hostile ideas is correlated with having motivation to express them online. People of a
more even disposition just aren't motivated to comment.

3. People's heads are full of little hateful ideas, and internet anonymity provides a forum.

4. The people I generally associate with are not a fair sample, so my baseline isn't accurate.

None of the above? All of the above?