Damn a 9? I'm feeling robbed.
This thread has a lot of good qualities.
First off, yes at the time, it was a parody. The "What do you guys think, did I overreact" was started because someone did get into a little fight and was asking for some validation... others jumped on with their own threads.. like I killed someone.. etc.
This thread, is completely believable.. and while its not FUNNY, it is interesting and draws the reader in... you can't start it and not finish it. If it was funny, it would be far less realistic and blow the whole thing.
Also, it also serves as a test. People read it and are disgusted.. or they read it and now are not afraid to say things like "Hell yeah man I would have done the same fucking thing!!" or "Fuck mexicans I hate them too!" it draws out people's true repressed feelings and then later on when they read the other 80 replies they realized that they've been tricked and are now embarrased and some people leave the board altogether or create a new screen name because they don't want people to know that they condone that type of ass kicking.
Its a snare that has caught many people, for that its at least in the 1-5 range.