i heard some theory recently that's pretty cool:
the internet is just like any other tool. what do tools do? they multiply force. a lever or pulley helps you lift things with greater force. a car helps you travel at a greater force. so, apply that to social media. imagine pre-internet social interactions, and multiply that. this is what the internet does. instead of social interactions occuring at the rate and frequency and scale imposed by the natural limits of physics, the internet skips over all of that, and these social interactions happen at faster and faster rates.
for that reason the more you use the tool, the more social interactions you do, the more you are going to get feedback from that tool. people that are always online always see crazy behavior, simply because they are always online. if they checked in less frequently, they would have fewer incidents. each incident is a potential firework point that could fractally expand into any kind of madness. even a silly comment, it can lead to another, and just as easily, the flame wars begin, largely due to the rapid pace of the medium itself. it is like playing with fire.
