I'm also loud-mouthed, quick to react and quicker to anger. When you're not on the recieving end of my rocket launcher, you're recieving an endless stream of taunts and abuse in the lobby.

(I'm not, by the way)

My point is this - how different are you online compared to out there in The Real World™? How does the relative anonymity and security of realtime chat affect you?

Do you strike up conversations in chat easier than you do in real social situations? Obviously, people who are in chat rooms are (normally) there to chat with other complete strangers, so you're more inclined to chat.

How about think time? When writing things on message boards you can spend hours perfecting the text before posting it, and still have a conversation. You can't do that in a physical conversation. Also, when in chat rooms you're in more of a rush to get your point across. How do these sort of conversations compare to real ones? Maybe you research things before posting opinions.

How does the anonymity affect you? Do you get angry? Even violent? (Anyone who's ever been in RinkChat will know that scenes of gratuitous violence are commonplace)

So, you may be Nigel Thorneberry (I'm not, and if you are then I don't know you, so this isn't personal) during the day, but who are you when you log on as MrFloppy? Could this lead to some split personality thing? Even in a mild sense.