I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this one, and it seems so obvious to me, but since other people don't seem to know this, I think it ought to be said: online interaction is not the same as personal interaction. They work differently.
When you are speaking online with someone it is important to remember that tone, body language and the like cannot be communicated. Statistics says that communication is only 7% the words that you choose to use. That in itself should make people very weary of how and what they say in online communication.
You know what's hard to understand online? Sarcasm, anger, jokes, etc. Perhaps we ought to be careful using those emotions online? Perhaps we ought to not be pissed when there are misunderstandings because of these things. Perhaps people ought to be careful with their online communication...and because this is online, when I say "perhaps" I actually mean "do."
Do be careful about online interaction. And stop being pissy when people don't understand what you were trying to say. And have a little grace.
