1. Generally, any sort of internet comment thread (community) where the individuals engaging in the thread conform to dominant beliefs, and are insular towards those that present a different viewpoint. Note that a disinterested thread is different from a chauvinistic thread, as the latter will aggressively attack different viewpoints, while the former simply does not care.
2. Specifically, any sort of internet comment thread—particularly on
YouTube—where the individuals engaging in the thread (usually
mid-late teens to young adults) are
happy-
go-lucky casuals and do not attempt to pursue the topic of interest further, often due to ignorance or a short attention span. Thus, when the so-called reply
guy comes in with a paragraph, the casuals react with a "wut" attitude and completely dismiss his or her critical and edifying perspectives. This usually comprises of the entire thread either ignoring the intellectual all together, or replying back with something
like "I don't get it" or "no one really cares". Further attempts of enlightening the casuals might only be perceived as an annoyance and
may cause some of them to mute the comment thread.
Unfortunate to the intellectual, he or she might feel utterly neglected, and loses
faith in the young generation's ability to think critically.
Combined with the typical "the
internet is not school" mentality, casuals on the
internet may never learn, and will object to any sort of information that challenges their mindset.
YouTube comment thread on a Mukbang video:
OP:
Literally every time I see the word Mukbang in the title, I get super
hungry, does that happen to anyone else?? {207 likes | 3 days ago}
> Reply 1:
Omg that
literally happens to me every
single time too! {26 likes | 3 days ago}
> Reply 2: Happens to me too! {20 likes | 3 days ago}
> Reply 4: Yeah same, I think it has something to do with
something called operant conditioning {16 likes | 3 days ago}
> Psychology student: @Reply 4 Psychology student here. Actually, it has nothing to do with operant conditioning, what you're referring to is classical conditioning, which is the pairing of an unconditional stimulus with a neutral stimulus. You see, the word Mukbang is a neutral stimulus, but because it has been repeatedly paired with the concept of eating loads of food, it has a strong association with food, and food is an incentive that triggers ghrelin. {0 likes | 2 days ago}
> Reply 6: hahaha saame {0 likes | 7 hours ago}
> Psychology student: @Reply 4 Did you not read my comment? Heck, did anyone read my comment? {0 likes | 7 hours ago}
> Reply 8:
Science biatch! {1
like | 1 hour ago}
> Psychology student: @Reply 9 Actually, it's "psychology biatch!" FTFY. {0 likes | 1 hour ago}
> Reply 10: @Psychology student Shut up, nobody really cares {0 likes | 40 minutes ago}
> Reply 11: @Psychology student wut {0 likes | 7 minutes ago}
> Psychology student: This is such a disinterested thread... {0 likes | just now}
