I loved your piece! As someone who once managed the comments of a major news publication, I can totally relate to the vitriol you’ve been the brunt of. Especially the parenting pages. But upon completing the story I feel like your title is much more pessimistic and fatalist than its ending. You’re response to the hotheaded, short-sighted mom proves that empathy isn’t dead, because you responded with such incredible restraint and empathy. The more writers/bloggers/people start to port their offline etiquette and restraint online when engaging with others, I think, the more quickly we’ll see a shift away from this race to the bottom in online community norms.

So maybe these moments are really the start of empathy?