I'm not aware of a term for this specific behaviour (other than "a mob"), but it reminds me of: Party Line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_line_of_the_p

I'm not aware of a term for this specific behaviour (other than "a mob"), but it reminds me of: Party Line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_line_of_the_party https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_line_of_the_party Self-reinforcing groupthink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communal_reinforcement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communal_reinforcement Cognitive dissonance technically means to believe two contradictory things at the same time, but I've seen the term used to describe the effect when someone's beliefs are threatened by new evidence and they either change their beliefs or ignore the evidence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance Some guy on slashdot once noted that people tend to believe the first thing they read about any subject. In the case of these forums, that is the original post. This belief is reinforced by subsequent comments agreeing with the original poster, and from the trust and other social effects from the original poster's earlier writings. Apparently, this belief can be raised to such a point that anyone disagreeing is presumed to be wrong by the majority of users moved to rate the dissenting comment. Another commenter mentioned emotions versus logic. From similar experiences, I've found that people don't like to have their outrages and sob sessions interrupted by a skeptic questioning whether the circumstances justify such an emotional response. I'm not aware of whether there is a term for this reactionary dismissal or not. As for how to respond, I know of no positive strategy other than to to have people on your side that the community trusts, but I consider that dishonest. Responding to your accuser in kind with similar emotions and accusations going the other way might be justifiable and entertaining but the irony will be unappreciated and you will dig yourself a deeper hole. Defending yourself lends justifications to the attacks; notice how society has decided that "some of my best friends are black/gay" is something that bigots say rather than evidence against bigotry. At the least you can lend no ammunition to the charges, stick to the facts, and try not to be rude.