Internet trolls, ranked by state
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50. New Hampshire
Toxic comment percentage: 4.7
Wired Magazine and online comment platform Disqus studied comments from Disqus’ 7,000-plus forums to determine which states produced the largest percentage of toxic comments.
Of the Disqus comments coming from New Hampshire, 4.7 percent were considered over-the-top, conversation-flaming trollery.
49. Oklahoma
Toxic comment percentage: 5.2
Of all commenters in this study, 25 percent made at least one toxic comment, but at just 5.2 percent toxicity, those trolls were mostly outside of Oklahoma.
48. Wyoming
Toxic comment percentage: 5.3
The study even allowed for a certain amount of negativity. It is the internet, after all. Comments that were mean or sarcastic but ostensibly on-topic were not counted among the truly toxic.
47. West Virginia
Toxic comment percentage: 5.4
46. Maine
Toxic comment percentage: 5.5
Remember this snickering canine that laughed at your failure to shoot down digital waterfowl? He taught a generation of gamers how to troll.
45. Montana
Toxic comment percentage: 5.6
(TIE) 44. Idaho, Hawaii, North Dakota
Toxic comment percentage: 5.7
41. Oregon
Toxic comment percentage: 5.8
(TIE) 40. Alaska, Kentucky, Utah
Toxic comment percentage: 5.9
Kentucky native Jennifer Lawrence has strong opinions on internet trolls. In 2014, her phone was hacked, and nude photos and video were posted online for the anonymous masses to comment. She’s repeated her unwillingness to engage with the internet in many interviews since.
37. Kansas
Toxic comment percentage: 6
36. Arkansas
Toxic comment percentage: 6.1
(TIE) 35. Nebraska, South Dakota
Toxic comment percentage: 6.3
33. Colorado
Toxic comment percentage: 6.4
32. Indiana
Toxic comment percentage: 6.5
(TIE) 31. Minnesota, Wisconsin
Toxic comment percentage: 6.6
(TIE) 29. Massachusetts, Washington
Toxic comment percentage: 6.8
27. Connecticut
Toxic comment percentage: 6.9
26. Arizona
Toxic comment percentage: 7
25. North Carolina
Toxic comment percentage: 7.1
We’re curious how many of these toxic comments are related to college basketball.
(TIE) 24. Ohio, Tennessee
Toxic comment percentage: 7.2
22. Missouri
Toxic comment percentage: 7.3
21. Maryland
Toxic comment percentage: 7.4
(TIE) 20. California, Mississippi, Pennsylvania
Toxic comment percentage: 7.5
One topic that often brings the comment trolls out of the woodwork is feminism.
17. Michigan
Toxic comment percentage: 7.7
16. New Mexico
Toxic comment percentage: 7.9
15. Rhode Island
Toxic comment percentage: 8
14. Virginia
Toxic comment percentage: 8.1
(TIE) 13. Illinois, Texas
Toxic comment percentage: 8.2
Chicago suburb Park Forest produces the highest percentage of toxic comments of any city in the United States at a whopping 34 percent. But almost all of those comments are written by just two authors.
11. New York
Toxic comment percentage: 8.3
A federal judge revoked bail for former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli as he awaited sentencing for fraud. Prosecutors argued that Shkreli harassed women online and that he offered his Facebook followers $5,000 to produce a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair. Shkreli apologized in writing, saying he didn’t expect anyone would take his comments seriously.
(TIE) 10. Florida, Louisiana
Toxic comment percentage: 8.6
(TIE) 8. Delaware, New Jersey
Toxic comment percentage: 8.8
6. Georgia
Toxic comment percentage: 9.5
While Georgia, as a state, is among the top 10 trolliest, Sharpsburg produces the lowest percentage of toxic comments of any city in the country.
4. South Carolina
Toxic comment percentage: 9.8
3. Nevada
Toxic comment percentage: 10.1
2. Iowa
Toxic comment percentage: 10.3
1. Vermont
Toxic comment percentage: 12.2
Vermont has the smallest population in the United States, but it also has the largest percentage of toxic comments.
