> A reality check would be going to a conference and realizing that twitter isn't a representation of the general public.

An interesting counter(? corollary? Neither?) to that is when you go to a conference and the SAME INSANE PEOPLE from Twitter are there, acting as one would consider "normal".

I don't know what to think about the immense gulf between how we as a species behave behind a screen vs face to face. And how we also react to others doing it.

I had this lesson 25 years ago. The nicest person I knew at my school was an immense asshole online. It wasn't even the anonymousness of it - it was to fellow classmates that knew who he was.

Speculation - You need to be asshole some times in real life, or you become passive aggressive and take it out somewhere else.

>I don't know what to think about the immense gulf between how we as a species behave behind a screen vs face to face.

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth - Oscar Wilde."

Looking at 4chan as an example, although in theory masked the discussions defaults to a specific and recognizable tone and specific ways of argumenting or joking.

Giving a mask gives you a new contextual facet of a person, but hardly the truth. Few are those who can even know the truth about themselves. I don't know if I do.

Perhaps it's more like give someone a mask and they will tell you their psychosis. Is the disinhibited mind properly functioning any more than a drunk person is their real self or a disinhibited muscle contributes the most to a person's presence?

Don’t even get me started on conferences, there are a centerpiece of the controversy. I never got into the conference groove because I always had to pay my own way and never wanted to turn down an opportunity to bill some hours.

Trump rallies are sort of like a real-life depiction of Twitter