It's not that people can't lie on the Internet. Back then, it was more or less expected that whatever was written on the Internet is no more truthful than someo

It's not that people can't lie on the Internet. Back then, it was more or less expected that whatever was written on the Internet is no more truthful than someone telling a story. One of the major differences was that people we're necessarily tied to their online personas like we are today. What I mean to say is that the Internet is currently more closely linked to reality than it was back then. Digital identities aren't necessarily a separate entity from who we are. It may be a version of ourselves that we want to represent, but they tend to represent a part of us. This is why you may not have cared if some dipshit harassed you online back then. The internet was a mere source of entertainment. Now that it's an arguable necessity, it's no longer just an avatar getting attacked or lied to; it's the person behind the keyboard.