I agree this is a possibility, but I don't think it was the case for Erik. I think he viewed electronic communication as a different form of communication that

I agree this is a possibility, but I don't think it was the case for Erik. I think he viewed electronic communication as a different form of communication that had different rules. I also think he fell into a trap of bad behavior and he wasn't able to disconnect from it. Years before he died he disconnected from comp.lang.lisp. That seemed to be the only way he could change, and it meant not participating in conversations there.