But I think where the net differs from the media is, it's pretty much a meeting of minds, and the usual standards of behavior don't apply. On the net you can mouth off at someone on the other side of the planet, and you can get away with it, try it in a room full of people and you cop a smack in the mouth. All the subtle interactions of conversation, body language, et cetera are missing here, the only person in the space is you, and all the interaction happens in your head.

You have to actually train yourself to behave on the net as you would in real life, not easy, but doable. Given the back and forth in this thread recently, and for the most part I was holding back, I am very aware that people misunderstood what I'd written, and I may have misunderstood what others had written, but given the medium we're using to communicate, misunderstanding is the risk we accept.

I think you've nailed it with people behaving like 14-year-olds on the net, because in reality, they aren't, they'd like to believe that they aren't, in their heads they aren't. And most would be insulted to be told that they actually are. It's a bit like being drunk, in your head, you're having a great time and everybody thinks you're the life of the party, but the reality is, you're p*ssed and everyone thinks you're acting like an idiot.

On the other hand there are people, here, for example, that have gotten their heads around how to behave, and you can pick 'em straight off, you get a sense from what they type, what you're reading, is how they would speak if you called 'em on the phone or had a beer with them at the local bar, for the record, I don't do alcohol, I've been drunk once, not by choice, and it scared the sh*t out of me.

And I agree with you about not believing the the internet is an outlet for negative energy, it doesn't make things better, it makes them worse. With the current generation, more cr*p has been perpetrated, and perpetuated on and because of the internet than I have had over my lifetime so far. That said, my generation is responsible for the greatest decline in moral and ethical standards that the world has seen in centuries. Our parents gave us the internet, we turned it into a toxic waste dump, and we let or kids play in it. No wonder the spoiled little brats are so messed up

All that said, and keeping on-topic for this forum, if it wasn't for the internet, there was a time that I was quite scared that I was turning into a p*rvert, and would likely bring shame to my family and spend time in prison.

I hope this rather verbose post makes it through the banned word list.