What just happened? When did people get so mean? Those were my thoughts as I saw the offensive comments stacking up on our cheerful Facebook post - a good news story full of pictures and affirming messages after a local mayor-making celebration.

It was quite upsetting, because I had reached out to the mayor in question, who I don’t know personally, and had received a very gracious and grateful response. He was eager to highlight the achievements of others, and seemed genuinely delighted to be included in the local press. Now this had happened, it was hard not to feel as if I’d betrayed his trust.

When Nicola Harteveld, Milford Haven town councillor and founder of the Megan’s Starr foundation, withdrew her Pembrokeshire County Council candidacy after her youngest son suffered abuse over her political stance, it showed just how mean people can be.

“Politics should be about ideas and service to our communities, not personal attacks or abuse,” said a Welsh Labour spokesperson in response at the time.

It’s not just about politics. Businesses can be targeted, too. A local eating place has posted something pertinent that I’d like to turn into an article, but I’ve had a hard time persuading them, as they’ve suffered from a lot of negativity online and I can’t guarantee that won’t happen again.

“There is a time and a place for complaints. Jumping onto a positive community post to drag down a local business is not it.” These were the words on a Facebook page that regularly shares local news.

When the same page recently shared information about the forthcoming World Refugee Day in Pembroke (see page 30), reactions included ‘angry faces’ as well as ‘likes’ and ‘loves’, and the comments section was turned off.

They recently explained this policy: “Some articles naturally get a lot of attention and discussion. However, after a while, we often start to see repeated comments, off-topic remarks, or comments from people who clearly have not read the article.”

They add that some pieces are “viewpoints or updates, and are not always intended to become open debates,” and that: “Some posts have attracted very negative responses, including blatant racism, threats, personal abuse and childish remarks.”

While the aggressive monetisation of the online world and the degradation of social media makes me want to turn the clock back to the internet’s infancy, there are some positive advances and one particularly helpful one is Google AI.

Admittedly, care should be taken when using the relatively new technology: responses are not always accurate - and it’s worth challenging this in a follow-up question as it’s capable of having a complete rethink. But it’s so rewarding to use a search engine that actually understands what you’re asking, instead of simply homing in on keywords or trying to suggest popular alternative searches.

So in the most serious question yet posed to the digital assistant, I asked Google the following question:

“Are local journalists getting frustrated with their good news posts being turned into rage bait by haters?”

The search engine wasted no time in perusing articles, turning up ‘The miserable world of clickbait’ by Abi Whistance in The Post, answers to a question on Reddit: ‘Any local journalists feeling kind of let down by their audience’, an analysis of the psychology behind rage bait in The Conversation and a Vox Instagram reel on how to avoid it.

There were clearly plenty of results to draw from, as its comprehensive answer was too informative, focussed and troubling not to share in its entirety.

“Yes,” said the computer, “local journalists are experiencing deep frustration as their community-focused, positive stories are routinely hijacked and turned into "rage bait" by toxic comment sections.

“Despite publishing lighthearted or uplifting pieces to balance their coverage, reporters frequently watch these posts devolve into bitter arguments, political culture wars, or cynical attacks against the subjects of the stories.

“This trend is driven by an intersection of algorithmic design, digital psychology, and general reader fatigue.”

This is partly attributed to the ‘Outrage Economy’ and ‘Algorithmic Capture’.

“Journalists do not operate in a vacuum; they must distribute their stories via social media platforms whose business models thrive on engagement.

“The Comment Premium: Platforms like Facebook weigh comment sections and shares significantly higher than passive “likes”. A controversial back-and-forth chain in the replies signals to the algorithm that the post is highly valuable, artificially boosting its reach.

“Negative Virality: Studies confirm that social media users are nearly twice as likely to share negative or inflammatory news than positive updates.

“The Feedback Loop: Because hatred and bickering expand a post’s audience, a wholesome story about a local business milestone or a charity drive is systematically served to aggressive internet users who use the space to vent broader societal grievances.

“When local journalists post uplifting items, bad-faith actors or highly cynical readers often execute predictable pivots to transform the tone,” the AI response continued.

It displayed a table with the first column headed ‘Wholesome Local Story’ and the second ‘The Rage Bait Pivot’, with examples as follows:

“New bike lanes or parks open — Escalates into fury about council tax waste, anti-car agendas, or gentrification.

“A student or charity wins an award — Inundated with cynical comments about “wokeism” or questioning why other causes were ignored.

“A new local business or pub opens — Commenters attack the pricing, predict it will fail, or complain about parking.

“Human interest profiles (e.g., eco-initiatives) — Drifts rapidly into extreme personal insults or coordinated harassment against the reporter.”

Talking about the toll on local journalists, Google AI added:

“This dynamic is causing notable disillusionment within local newsrooms. Many local reporters enter the industry explicitly to serve their communities and highlight positive local achievements. Watching their neighbours and anonymous accounts use these very stories as digital punching bags leads to specific consequences:

“Audience Alienation: Journalists increasingly feel let down by their audience, noting that vocal, negative minorities drown out the readers who genuinely appreciate traditional reporting.

“Burnout from Moderation: Because news outlets face legal and ethical pressure to police their pages, reporters often have to spend hours deleting toxic rhetoric or shutting down comments entirely on harmless articles.

“Self-Censorship: To avoid triggering relentless bad-faith backlash campaigns, some newsrooms or individual reporters think twice before highlighting specific community groups, creating a chilling effect on local feature writing.”

As a local newspaper, the Tenby Observer isn’t afraid to highlight issues, and matters such as the decision to suspend a county councillor are ripe for debate. But contrary to what you might read online, we’re not trying to push a political narrative onto readers - as far as I know, we hold a wide range of political views - and we carry press releases from groups of all persuasions.

Moreover, this ’paper has a unique and rich tradition of sharing local community titbits and good news, thriving on goodwill.

It seems to me that - much as I dislike the expression in other contexts - social media users need to “read the room” and consider whether their negative comments are suitable for the style of post.

Happily, such incidents, although common, are not the norm, and it’s heartwarming to see such positive local response to the story of Molly’s half-marathon. I’m sure this is a reflection of our genuine, local audience.