You make me want to switch ISPs... :-)

<AOL> <AOL> <AOL>

(Apologies to those who don't get the joke.)

To answer your question, I have been a member of a large variety of online communities for the better part of a decade. (Long enough to remember the Endless September that started that joke.) It is a commonly noted phenomena that some people, as soon as they are no longer directly faced with a real live person, feel free to become far nastier than they would ever be face to face. The more anonymous the forum, the stronger this effect is.

Your observations about the effects of this are spot on, and I am impressed that you said it so well. I doubt that there is anyone with extensive online experience here who does not both know this and who cannot point to communities which have suffered damage as a result.

Needless to say, I vote by node, and I voted for this one. :-)