Online Etiquette

The words were snarky and snide and rude. His final message, however, left an extra special impression: "I got caught up in the anonymity of the internet. I'm sorry and here is a legit post with my criticisms." Upon opening the pasted link, I was greeted by a nasty pornographic image that would make Sasha Grey vomit into the nearest trash can.
When I later noted to Matt, via Twitter, that my 7-year-old daughter happened to be next to me when I clicked on the picture, he wrote: "lmao. You're so full of ----."
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Quite frankly, I wanted to hate him. I wanted to bash him. I wanted to plaster his name, address and personal information atop a column on CNN.com, so that when someone Googled his name for future employment, they'd find the words "Sent me a link to pornographic material."
Then we spoke. And I (dammit) liked him. Without invisibility or the support of his 54 Twitter followers or the superhuman powers supplied by a warm keyboard, Matt was meek and apologetic. "I was just trying to get a rise out of you," he said. "You're a known sports writer, and I thought it was cool. That's all. I never meant for it to reach this point."
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Indeed, along with contacting Matt, I also tracked down Andy, a 23-year-old aspiring writer who tweeted of me: "jeff Pearlman and billy madison share an intelligence quotient (because jeff Pearlman is a f---ing retard)."
When I dialed a number I found for Andy, his mother answered. (I admit, this brought me great delight.) Andy was even more apologetic than Matt -- and more willing to explain his actions.

CNN

So many people would say there is not online etiquette. As long as your name and where people can find you are not plastered all over everything you send over the interet, there will never be a sense of retribution. It is the same thing that happens in the school yard. If one kid things they will get away with something, then they will do it. I imagine if enough people get nailed for this sort of behavior, and the news of such gets out, less people will do it. There will always be someone who thinks they will get away with it.

A long time ago I read something about people and how they act. Harsh punishments do not stop people from doing bad things. If, however, the stronger they feel that they will get caught, the less likely they are to do the bad thing. If your real name and home address were plastered on every post, you would be more civil, or not post at all.