Item: Daum: Online's 'nasty effect': A new study shows that comments can actually sway the perceptions and opinions of otherwise objective readers/Meghan Daum, Los Angeles Times

More Info (from Meghan Daum): And while I will admit that comments can range from genuinely illuminating to definitely subhuman (with most occupying an in-between territory), I've long figured that they inflict damage well beyond the wearying effects of reading about "libtards" and "rethugs." As the researchers found, rude comments don't just affect mood or frame of mind. They affect how the mind frames ideas and processes information. As I've observed it, they have a dramatic effect on how writers write and, perhaps more important, on how readers read — especially those who don't remember a time before electronic media.

Question: Meghan Daum says research shows nasty online comments have an effect. Does that mean the neanderthal keyboard commando who haunt the Coeur d'Alene Press Online are influential?