i dont think you really understand how much people are invested in their online personas. so many people have specific reasons why they are online and their online personas are built around that. when you offend that, you offend them and it could be even worse than in real life because like i said many times their online personas are the vulnerabilities which they would never expose IRL but feel comfortable exposing online.
for example. if you have someone who suffers from depression but doesnt tell anyone IRl then comes online and someone offends him, it could drive that person to suicide because they invested their deepest feelings and emotions and vulnerabilities in their online persona, stuff which they never expose IRL, so when that gets attacked its the last straw. when you offend someone online you are offending a “alter ego” of somebody REAL sitting by a real computer in a real house. that person put their real feelings into their online world. be careful what you do with them. its not so pashut.