I don't remember any toxicity I'm sure there was plenty, judging from ancient IRC logs that drift by occasionally. But maybe those were saved because they were

I don't remember any toxicity I'm sure there was plenty, judging from ancient IRC logs that drift by occasionally. But maybe those were saved because they were still the exception. The kids from back then were also raised in a directly-connected environment (the only non-direct communication was via snail mail, or "mail" as it was called), so they'd get corrected much sooner for violating the social contract in some way. Most children quickly learned to keep their unkind thoughts to themselves. The kids today are growing up with all manner of indirect connections, which both have fewer opportunities to correct behaviour and even if those corrections do happen, they're unlikely to have as much effect (if any) as real-life direct feedback. Also, the Internet wasn't "popular" back then so if people were bored, they'd hang out and troll somewhere else, like a mall or a parking lot. The Internet was mainly inhabited by serious people back then, I guess. That's my two cents, at least. In today's currency, not inflation-adjusted.