“Did A Doctor Sign His Forehead?”: 59 Times Commenters Made Online Conversations 100 Times Better

When you come across a post on social media, what’s the first thing you do? Do you watch the video, read the post, or look at the photograph? Or do you reach for the comment section immediately? If you do the latter, you’re not the only one: research shows that people often treat the comment section as a synopsis of a post.

Sure, the comment section can give you an idea of what to expect, but the comments can sometimes be even better than the post itself. We has collected some instances of people going off in the comments in such hilarious ways that they had the entire Internet cracking up. Scroll down and see the funniest comments from people who deserve to compete for the “Best Comment Ever” award.

#1 Play Stupid Games

#2 Meirl

#3 Meirl

Comment sections might seem like public forums for random jokes, but they can be much more than that. Some comment sections might foster a sense of community and even belonging, creating spaces for people to “hang out” virtually with like-minded others.

A 2016 qualitative study of two British online newspapers found that people in the comment sections tend to form small imagined communities. The commenters, as the authors put it, “treat each other as identifiable individuals.” Essentially, even when they’re complete strangers, commenters feel they have something in common — the content they’re posting about.

#4 A Woman Made Him

#5 My Predecessor Was A Goat

#6 We Aren’t So Different After All

When we add humor, the community-building aspect of comment sections becomes even stronger. The researchers posit that jokes in the comment section don’t work the same way they do in a typical setting. There’s no need for the classic set-up and punchline routine. “Comicality is humour derived from a context, situation, misunderstanding or other atypical setup,” they write. “It is not necessarily dependent upon overt joke telling, and thus is not dependent upon [there] being a punchline for the payoff.”

It’s true that comment sections can be breeding grounds for racism, sexism, and other kinds of problematic behaviors and rhetoric. After all, anonymity gives people free rein to say things no one will hold them accountable for in real life. This is why comment sections are almost obsolete in many publications, except on social media, of course. But some experts argue that community management is a major factor in people wanting to spend time on a page.

#7 Could You Imagine

#8 I Don’t Even Know Where Salami Lives

#9 Stay Out Of My Lane

The comment section can be a useful tool for investigative journalism. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Fahrenthold often engages directly with his audience in the replies to his social media posts. When Fahrenthold was investigating Donald Trump’s campaign donations in 2016, he used information commenters shared on Twitter to conduct his investigation. He didn’t shy away from sharing his progress and even asked readers for tips.

Other publications have also adopted this style of open-source investigation, like the non-profit Bellingcat, The New York Times’ Visual Investigations unit, the BBC, and Storyful.

#10 That’s Gotta Hurt

#11 The Last Comment Though

#12 A Considerable Overlap

Some commenters might be so devoted that they even become a part of a new outlet’s history. A dedicated commenter on Carolyn Hax’s advice column on the Washington Post was memorialized in an outlet’s publication after passing away. Other readers also celebrated her life and paid their respects in the place where they would always meet — the comment section.

#13 I Can Feel His Pain

#14 Yeah

#15 Smells

In some cases, the comment sections might even become the place where recruiters find their next hires. This happened to Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic’s now-senior editor for politics, who was plucked out of the comment section and into the role of a guest writer for the outlet.

It all began with Appelbaum commenting on The Atlantic’s then-editor Ta-Nehisi Coates personal blog posts. Under the pseudonym Cynic, Appelbaum would debate the author on topics ranging from Alexis de Tocqueville to “Iron Man 2.” As the conversations continued, Coates realized he had a talented writer on his hands, saying, “He was just like the master mold for what I would have wanted a commenter to be.”

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#16 Mobile Autistic Doom Pile

#17 Once You See It, You Can’t Unsee

#18 It Is Indeed Not Very Safe

So, Pandas, it seems like the comment section can be the perfect place to find community, sources for your journalistic investigation, and even a job! But what are your experiences with comment sections? Do you love them, or do you hate them? Tell us all about your feelings in the comments below! And if you’d like to see more funny comments, check out these compilations here and here!

#19 Me_irl