The dark side of the Internet (1996)
web.archive.org
web.archive.org
I realize our society is more and more 'happening' in cyberspace. But still. Turning it all of requires nothing more than the press of a button. If only we could take a breath of fresh air once in a while.
I really wish more people realised this.
There's a particularly notable[0] article quite relevant to the topic of digital identity and harm, and to events earlier this year: "A Rape in Cyberspace; or, How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society" (1993) http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle_vv.html
it aged really well
In early days of the web, many people had blinders on, because we had dreams of the internet bringing the world together in love and harmony, etc. Fewer people are like that now, because social media has made the internet's flaws hard to ignore.
It's possible the author himself would have tempered his optimism if he wrote a follow-up article today, but it appears he passed away in 2004 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman) so we'll never know.
Heh, that's a fun sentence. And then I'm reminded of the issue of the negative top-voted top-level comments that frequently appear on HN. I guess the same mechanisms are in effect.