Assalaamu alaikum,
I think there is more than one issue here. For instance, there is the problem of people who join the forum in order to make mischief. Such people tend to be rude. The solution to these is forum moderators.
But then there is also the issue of posting whatever immediately jumps into our mind when we read a post. (smile) I've found the best way to deal with this, is to wait a day or two before responding. (twinkle) It's astonishing how the urgency of what we feel tends to decrease with time!
Finally, there is the problem of people not realizing that the internet is just another means of communication; the people communicating are very real. It is so easy, with a new technology, to think that somehow, we are exempt from the usual rules of behaviour.
(twinkle) I will digress a little to illustrate what I mean with a true story, related to me by an acquaintance... The telephone came late to her isolated community, and so she recalls that when she was about 12, there was a flurry of activity by the youth in her community (twinkle. Maybe the adults, too, but she only knew what the children were doing!). The children would phone up people and say shocking and rude things to them, in a manner that they would never do in person. Because they figured that they were anonymous, so no one would know. Plus, it seemed a little unreal without the actual people in front of them. It was harder to imagine hurting someone you couldn't see. And it was rather exciting and funny to be able to tell old Mrs so-and-so that she was a mean, grumpy old witch!
The internet has another feature, that I think we tend not to realize, it being a newer technology: it is a very public forum. And it is indelible. Even if we (or someone else) erases our posts, they still exist, somewhere in what I have been told is called the dark web. And people with the skills to research this dark web can find out all sorts of things we may one day be very embarrassed that we have said or done. A powerful example of this was seen in our last election here in Canada. A young 21 year-old, headscarf-wearing Muslim woman was chosen to run for the Liberal party (which ended up winning a large majority of the seats). However, during the campaign, it was found that she had posted some crude, rude or questionable comments on the internet when she was a minor teen. As I recall, at least some of them had been deleted. But that did not help her. They were found. And she therefore had to step down.
(smile) I don't want to completely frighten people away from posting. This Forum can be a warm and lively place for people to work together, share knowledge and support one another. But perhaps, if we reflect on the seriousness and reality of our interactions on this Forum... we may be more careful and caring in the way we post.
May Allah, the One Who Sees and Know All, Help us to remember that our deeds (including our interactions with one another) are what we take with us when we die... and that we will be Held accountable for the wrong that we do, and Rewarded for refraining from the wrong we are tempted to do, as well as what good we do.
