These conflicts didn't really matter because nobody used real names anyway. Online identities were very much expected to be disposable, if necessary. Real names and real-world reputation wpuld only enter the picture in more "serious" spaces where moderation actions and social expectations were correspondingly a lot higher. Modern social media merged the "real names only" expectation of the most academic Usenet groups with the conflict-orientation of alt.flame.flame.flame and www.4chan.org. Disaster is the predictable outcome of this, often with non-trivial real-world consequences.

There were still a lot of flame wars between known people.