I think it is a result of the network effect. The same window also marks the rise of social networks. So the toxicity is more in your face and you almost have n

I think it is a result of the network effect. The same window also marks the rise of social networks. So the toxicity is more in your face and you almost have no way of escaping it. Even if you're not on facebook, your friends are talking about it / hackernews has articles on political issues and so on. It permeates all your 'safe spaces'. I also think we have non-cs folk entering the internets en masse and are there by changing the rules and norms, which generates mania over things which were just ignored before. How do we stop it? I don't think we stop it. We build resistance to it. Every generation has its detractor and for us it is the bad effects of this network. Over time, we will start ignoring the noise and use these for what they are actually useful for (or the next detractor takes over).