The Social Dynamic of The Internet

Just in case you were wondering here is a link to Penny Arcade's presentation of the theory.

Sad but true, people feel inclined to be jerks if you can't see them.

Then again, some people feel inclined to be jerks when you can see them.

People are jerks.

Yeah, sometimes I wonder if the fact that some people are jerks to start with is somewhat overlooked on the internet. It seems that comment trolls and such are often blamed on the medium.

At the same time it does seem reasonable to think that it would be easier to anonymously insult people you can't see.

I wonder if there are any experiments on this sort of thing.