Clearly I should have paid attention to this thread a while ago!
That being said, I'm going to [safely] assume that neither of the two previous respondents have heard of what Jason Calcanis coined as "Internet Asperger's Syndrome"? While it is still an ongoing, vibrant discussion of diverse perspectives, its underlying premise is certainly feasible.
This should get you started: http://calacanis.com/2009/01/29/we-live-in-public-and-the-end-of-empathy/ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=59a_1247115195
Calcanis doesn't pass muster as "research" , in my honest opinion. He's in the venture capital, startup, yell-loudly-at-people and get a story posted on TechCrunch-or-whatever, scene. Having one person with a loud-ish voice compare internet behavior to Asperger's syndrome is highly obnoxious. Having people who should know better repeat the statement is just unconscionable and bordering on 'vile'.
Thomas Jones | Graduate Student | School of Information Studies http://about.me/othertomjones
I think you should take a straw poll of the faculty at Syracuse and see how many of them will agree that it's okay to flatten / construe internet trolling down as being Aspergers-driven. This is one of those things where even *asking the question* is likely to get you a very hostile reaction from many folks... The results should be entertaining. --elijah