The Four Types of Commenters

I've discussed comments here before, both the kinds of comments I get and what I'd like to see happen (basically trying to set up some guidelines). Via Ann Althouse, Dr. Helen Smith describes four commenter types.

1. The sympathetic acknowledger--I understand how frustrating this must be!

2. The Fixer--Here, let me figure out how to solve your problem.

3. The subtle dig commenter--The problem isn't so bad. I wouldn't worry about it because you sound obsessive. Unbecoming.

Then there was my favorite: the plain old aggressive commenter.

So the thread will typically desintigrate from there until we have the "plain old aggressive commenter" who hostilly accuses the blogger of being a racist, sexist, Nazi, or launches an outright personal attack on the blogger and so on--all stemming from an unrelated post on a topic having absolutely nothing to do with what the aggressive commenter imagines the post to be about. But then, it is not about responding in any meaningful way to the topic at hand, but rather about how the commenter views the world and his or her place in it. Some people are sympathetic, some practical, some passive-aggressive and others just plain aggressive in their approach to the world.

Gee, remind you of any commenters we see around here?

Cross-posted at Common Sense Political Thought.