Gee ya think? Lol

Anonymity does that.

Fuck you!!

nope. boomers still behave the same way on the internet when they're using their real name. it's really more the screen/lack of physicality that seems to do it.

Basically they act the way they do because they can’t be punched in the face?

I'm pretty sure that in 100 years time people will look back at the current age of social media with the same kind of horror as we get looking back at doctors recommending cigarettes for weight loss.

Dems fightin words pal!

Everyone tough until they get punched in the face!

Safe in their little vehicle on the Information Superhighway.

What I've learned over time is that it brings out the worst in us, because unlike a live meeting, where there is a danger that you may be ostracized or beaten up, online people have a much less controlled environment for speech. Even the effort of showing up or printing/broadcasting an opinion was reduced to 0.

And since the user isn't forced to pass a driving exam for how to behave and different communities have different rules, values and objectives, it is easy to feel a contrast without traveling very far, which triggers polarization/victimization rather than an instinct to adapt and grow.

e.g. normies wouldn't just stumble into an anarchist meeting in real life and start throwing up a fuss, but online it can happen all the time without censorship moderation.

And all of this before even considering hostile actors that generate, propagate, amplify and target misinformation and disinformation (now with AI inside^TM^)

...it is also easier to be misinterpreted, because every time someone speaks, it is one-to-many and you have no idea who is going to be reading and to misinterpret/coopt/discredit(in a hostile way) your message in ways that you had not antecipated. It is completely different from a live gathering (you don't each yell at the crowd at a time)

Not entirely. Just look at people when they get "car brain." Surround an otherwise decent person with a few thousand pounds of steel, and they can become a complete, egotistical asshole. There's obviously some anonymity to driving, but most drivers understand they're identifiable.