Originally Posted by Neapolitan

I think people tend to hold on to what you post on the internet a little longer than irl, esp. forums cause it's always kinda there. As an example if you bumped someone on the street and you aggressively said "watch it buddy" there might some tension between both involved but after a while it'll wear off. But on the internet if somebody says something and you retort, it could go either way, it could be ignored, or maybe the other person could be offended. If there's hostility in the exchange tension kinda lingers. And the conversation is never between two people, cause it's an open forum, other people can join in & start throwing in their opinions and etc, and it can snowball. Even something that is benign is open to a dozen ways of interpretation, and there could be one person take it to task and make an issue out of it. Plus someone can quote or bring it you a year later cause it's always kinda there. It's like if you say something on a forum, you are always saying it, cause the post is always there.