If at first they don't come for Upton's Law, then you're the product.

That is, as Bill Clinton said to Christopher Buckley, goddamn funny.

Hey that's a good idea. Thanks! I'll add it, along with an Oxford comma.

Edit: done. But perhaps we should take out "internet" and just say "tropes"?

I don't think it flows as well as just "tropes." (And I'm allergic to Oxford commas, but so many of my thoughtful friends who care about language use them that I've started to think that's just my problem.)

Ok, we'll keep 'internet' in there.

I started with 'tropes' but then thought people might try to language-lawyer this (what kind of trope? not all tropes are negative! this isn't a trope! etc) so I scoured scripture for a representative variant and that sounded about right.

I like using the word 'internet' in moderation comments as a sort of mild pejorative—it nicely expresses the shared semi-embarrassment we all feel about whatever this is.

I think it helps take pressure off people personally—because even if you're being scolded, you know..."internet" - how high can the bar really get. It's scolding on a curve.

Variable Yield Scolding, as nuke people might call it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_yield