I know this is going to sound pat, but I've always figured it was all or any combination of the above.
I think it comes down to a question that people have asked since long before the Internet: How many people would obey the law if they knew they wouldn't get caught breaking it? The Web's anonymity guarantees--or at least most people assume it does--that no matter how much of an ass you are, you won't get caught. I think it ties in with the same impulse that makes people behave like asses (or dangerously) in traffic--the person getting cut off or nearly sideswiped doesn't know who the driver that almost ran them into another car was.
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Date: 2009-02-18 08:23 pm (UTC)I think it comes down to a question that people have asked since long before the Internet: How many people would obey the law if they knew they wouldn't get caught breaking it? The Web's anonymity guarantees--or at least most people assume it does--that no matter how much of an ass you are, you won't get caught. I think it ties in with the same impulse that makes people behave like asses (or dangerously) in traffic--the person getting cut off or nearly sideswiped doesn't know who the driver that almost ran them into another car was.