Using online comments posted on news stories as the context, this research used two experiments to assess the influence of online comments on people's emotions as well as on their perceptions of others' emotions. Study 1 (N = 301) showed that people perceived uncivil disagreement comments posted on news stories as having a greater effect on negative emotions than civil disagreement comments. In addition, it found that people perceived uncivil comments as having a greater effect on the negative emotions of others, compared to the self, suggesting support for an emotional third-person perception (TPP). Study 2 (N = 565) showed that people perceived agreement comments as having a greater effect on positive emotions than uncivil disagreement comments. Findings also showed that people perceived agreement comments as having an equal effect on the positive emotions of the self, compared to others. This supports an emotional first-person perception (FPP). (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.