Originally posted by Curtis@Sep. 05 2002, 2:45 am
Yes it's someting I've noticed about the Internet - it is the easiest way to communicate excessive negative feelings.
At the risk of sound like I know something about this (which I don't) I think it is to do with the fact that on the net it is possible to act out fantasies (no, not orgys damnit!) about what you would say to people if there were no consiquences. There is no way on earth this guy would walk into a real room full of people and start randomly abusing them. It's the safe way of doing this - no matter what he/she says, there is absolutely no danger that anything will come of it.
I wish they would learn that their words are impotent and they need not waste their time with them.
This is the same theory that explains the phenomenon of Road Rage, actually. People (especially those in SUVs) feel particularly safe and hidden in their vehicles and are 'allowed' to act their deep-seated aggressions.
But it's much more common on the Internet, unfortunately. It could very well be that those who are overtly agressive on the internet are fairly passive/submissive 'in the real world'. Or they could just be all around annoying.
There is something to be noted in all this, though. Because the FTP page is gone, and these people have no impetus in it coming back, there is very little to do
except rant. Which leads me to think that if immediate gratification in posting wasn't available, it's forseeable that these people could be (physically) crying over it.