A couple of thoughts in addition to the things previously mentioned by 
Larry, Tom, Patrick et al..  They all made good points.  I would add 
that people sometimes engage differently on message boards than they do 
face to face.  So you don't always get a sense of the "real" person, 
only their virtual persona.

Not only can postings be misused, they can sometimes can be 
misunderstood.  Some observers believe we in the U.S. have an 
increasing "argument culture. " Then there are the gender differences 
that linguists such as Deborah Tannen have identified.  It's very easy 
to misunderstand people, so I'm not surprised that flame wars sometimes 
erupt.
See 
http://nmc.itc.virginia.edu/E-folio/1/EDIS542/2004Fall-1/cs/UserItems/adg
3j_707.html

(copy and paste the link if the URL does not hypertext) for a brief 
overview of some of Tannen's points.  She contends that men often 
jockey for position -- mindful of who's up, whose down vis a vis the 
others in a group.  While women supposedly look for connection).  Those 
of you who engaged in our Myers Briggs discussion recently may find 
this stuff interesting.  I tend to shy away from stereotyping, having 
been stereotyped myself, but some of what Tannen writes does make me 
stop and think.  I'm reading her new book about mothers and daughters 
right now, my Mom gave it to me for my 55th birthday recently, LOL.

Whatever people do online, it becomes part of a "permanent" web record, 
available for anyone to read, including potential employers.  And 
lawyers!

We recently discussed some of this on the Archives List, with me 
chiming in at
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0601B&L=ARCHIVES&P=R3814&
I=-3
and
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0601C&L=ARCHIVES&P=R4743&
I=-3
and
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0601B&L=ARCHIVES&P=R4496&
I=-3

The first posting has me cautioning people about what lawyers can do.  
Some of the posts on the Archives List debated whether Gen X and Gen Y 
are more inclined to believe in or accept less privacy than Baby 
Boomers and preceding generations.

Maarja

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