Still - claiming to love something might be used as a polite code for saying that you hate something else.

'I love my country'
MEANS:
'I love hating black people'

'I love progressive values'
MEANS:
'actually, that shit is kind of bland, but I sure hate biggots and fascists'

'I love family values'
MEANS:
'Hating gay people makes me forget my shit family'

Careful, You'll have nothing left for later.

I think it is a testament to the fact that a large number of people online, in particular vocal ones often:

- have highly polarized views on topics as a part of their personality

- make assumptions about other people or what other people think about things which may not and are often not true

- are intolerant of opposing viewpoints

- either read more into what someone is saying than they're actually saying, either by making invalid assumptions without even realizing they're doing it, or by doing so on purpose as a form of psychological warfare (ie: Games People Play)


In a way it is kind of set up to be this way because people who do not have these characteristics are more likely to not engage in such conversations and if they do, they're less likely to do so in a conflictual manner or with hostility. It's not that people are all one way or the other though either, but there is a variance between the two extremes that is common to some degree across the majority I think.

Maybe it is just more fun to hate something than to like something? Or easier to express your love for something in your hate for something else?
As far as I personally go, I'd excuse myself by claiming my such responses are usually just reactionary:

I hate Oblivion because I love Morrowind (and some people seriously think Oblivion is better)
I hate Curse of Monkey Island because I love the first two Monkey Islands (and some people think that CMI is on level or even better)
I hate cats because I love dogs (and the internet seems to have an unhealthy obsession with cats)

The really funny thing is that I've experienced and enjoyed all three of those things in the first part of those sentences (after a fashion, admittedly not as much as the three at the second part of those sentences), and I don't really hate them, it is just more fun that way :P.

I think most people online are younger, and are more inclined to describe things in absolutes. "best movie evar! That athlete suxxor!"

I think most people are poorly educated, and such lack of education leads people to more black/white perspectives, as leaders train them to think that way.

People in a forum all loving something may feel personally "attacked" when someone says something less than positive, so they lash back.

As mentioned previously, people may speak in code when they say they're for X, but really meaning they're against Y. "I'm not against gay marriage, I'm pro traditional marriage."

I hate to just post a video as an answer, but I couldn't help but be reminded me of this video:GHOSTBUSTERS 2016 Reaction/Rant/Having A Sook Mate

Of course you apologize, you're CANADIAN.

As others have said, it's not an internet phenomenon. That bellicosity is just someone looking to argue. And, tbh, most of the places on the internet that aren't news article comment sections or cult-y ONE OF US forum pages aren't so bad as you post it. Sounds a little like confirmation bias. Or, possibly, the realization that you guys really do deserve your reputation as almost freakishly polite and non-confrontational.

Except about hockey. That's some Jekyll/Hyde stuff right there.

You don't have to dislike one thing to like another. You can think both Trump and Hilary are qualified to be president. You can enjoy pop music and hipster/indie music. You can like desserts and enjoy green vegetables. You can think Jesus is cool and that Satan is not really such a bad guy that they make him out to be.

In my view I think the idea that "to like one thing you have to dislike another" is something that needs to be explained because it doesn't make much sense to me and my views conflict with the assertion that it's required.

And I enjoyed all of the Jokers personally. I think each iteration develops the character more than it could have been just from the written comics.

Its the internet, who cares about others opinion.

Almost everyone acts like a 7 foot tall, bad-ass Rambo behind a keyboard during an internet argument. A lot of people with sad lives just want drama and fun and argue with others for the sake of arguing.

Just take these internet arguments with a grain of salt and don't waste too much time on them.

You've never heard of the Easy Bake Oven XTREME!?

One hundred one thousand watt lightbulbs! Your tiny
cakes are done in nanoseconds! HARDCORE BAKING!

Really? That like never happens to me. That's like claiming that if you like Doom, you hate Duke3D.

Isn't that with everything now though, not just the internet. I mean look at the EU in or out in UK, there is no middle ground, we either submit fully to Brussels or start paddling away, no in-betweens. Anything you do, if you don't agree with the majority you become an "ist" or have an "ism". This is mainly a problem with technology, people now think they know things, and have their own soap boxes to stand on to shout it, and who shouts loudest wins. (My own two soapboxes are well know before anyone points it out :o)

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Or something like that.

This is a pretty common thing in gaming. People think that if you say you don't like a game you are a hater.

The concept of you being indifferent to something is really alien to most gamers as gaming is fueled by trends and flavors of the month.