That can't be good for the mental health of younger people in general. Idols are easy to fanaticize over; not just for teens, but for adults too. HN is a testament to that. But then again HN is a testament to a broad set of fucked up things in general.
I can see how the sniping from random strangers on a near constant basis would cause issues, because there are less and less actual "communities" (ala IRC channels, forums, etc) being formed, it's more of a anyone-can-drop-in-post-and-leave situation because, well, that's the nature of these platforms nowadays. There is no encouragement to build some kind of a conversation with any particular individual beyond the current post/thread/whatever.
I can see how the sniping from random strangers on a near constant basis would cause issues, because there are less and less actual "communities" (ala IRC channels, forums, etc) being formed, it's more of a anyone-can-drop-in-post-and-leave situation because, well, that's the nature of these platforms nowadays. There is no encouragement to build some kind of a conversation with any particular individual beyond the current post/thread/whatever.
Really shitty state of things.