I’m reminded of a phenomenon known as cyber disinhibition. It’s discussed in one of the few books I own, the book being based on the Edge question of 2008: “What is your dangerous idea?”

http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_5.html#goleman

When it comes to the internet, I go for balance. I might spend some time at a friend’s place, then go on the internet later in the day. Up until the age of 14, I used to be uber-compassionate and no-holds-barred in my giving – like, Mother Teresa style. I was actually known for being compassionate (and eccentric, and ‘rebellious’ in that lame teenager way – the latter designation was never one I agreed with). The excessive giving was a bit ridiculous and I was almost willingly taken advantage of. I would’ve liked to have kept all of the compassionate nature and mediated my giving side, but unfortunately I lost some of both.

I’ve become more self-concerned and self-serving – these responses are well-grounded in fear, delusion, ignorance and a need for security (which is essentially based on fear). I don’t know if the internet had anything to do with it, and I suspect other factors — like family situations calling for urgent self-protection – played a larger role. I hope to eventually overcome the fear underlying these responses and live a bit more like Jesus and Siddartha did – not to imply that I use them as role models, it’s just that they happen to see many things in the way I do. But yeah, vipassana meditation helps - an important thing to note with all these so-called spiritual practices is to avoid egoistic spirituality; it’s a trap lots of people fall into. It can be very subtle and very pervasive http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html