Since the 1990s, information technologies (IT) have completely redefined the ways in which people interact with each other, and in every kind of human activity.  Communication is at the core of anything people do within their communities or the greater outside world.  Business, education, and social relationships depend upon it, as they always have.  What has changed is the means being used, and this has created changes in the contents and styles of the communication itself.  The Internet has taken the freedom to communicate from complete isolation, which began with the use of the telephone, to levels never before imagined.  People can conduct a complex business from their homes, rarely or never actually meeting with anyone.  Men and women today form friendships, and even romantic relationships, through exchanging emails, pictures, videos, and through satellite-enable, visual conversations.  Underneath all of this, and happening in a way largely unknown to the users themselves, is a drastic lessening of traditional courtesy and the social graces.  The effect is not intentional; it is not likely that anyone communicating actually wants to be rude or lacking in manners.  It is more that increased privacy translates to increased empowerment, in a sense.  Being ill-mannered online does not result in the awkward or embarrassing reactions which happen in literal encounters, and this kind of freedom leads the user to feel that most any behavior is all right.  On the Internet, no one really “exists”, so no one demands courtesy.  As the user who is offended by someone online can simply block that person, other users are free to demonstrate aggression online they would never dare practice in the real world.  This is an inevitable consequence of a “virtual” society.  When others are merely icons on a screen, there is no real need to be respectful to them.