Thanks for commenting. I think you’re right that there are more polite, or at least quiet, people online than there are jerks, but as you say, the jerks do tend to stick out. Bravo for passing along your own courteousness to your kids, too.

I think what really struck me about this tank is the way s/he was able to go beyond being courteous and right into helpful. It’s tricky to offer suggestions to strangers in text chat; helpfulness can so easily be misinterpreted as bossiness or worse. It was nice to see someone who could gracefully make people comfortable, I think, which goes beyond common courtesy.

Thanks for stopping by. Perhaps I’ll see you, or your kids, online sometime :-)

I was horrified to see no-one else had replied to this post, so like the fictitous chivalrous knights of old, I felt the need to.

I think being nice while being anonymous comes naturally to most of us. Sadly the obnoxious ones stick out. And also sadly, many introverted people don’t say (text) much. I play bloodthursty (incorrect spelling, but seems more appropriate) first person shooters, and have met lots of great anonymous people (Dr Damage and Xena, you know I’m talking about you and others in the SLAK community if you are reading this). I feel that the odd person who is obnoxious is just a speed hump on the back streets of the infosuperhighway. I attribute my goodness to my Mum. I figure I’m bringing my kids up the same way. I am confident they’ll be courteous online, even if they turn out to be WOW players instead of FPSers.

All the best,

…Geoff