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The notion of road rage is well documented, most drivers have suffered this kind of abuse. This poor behaviour towards others behind the cloak of semi-anonymity seems to becoming more widespread on the web in the form of angry posts, unpleasant comments and abusive use of social networks.

In the space of 24hrs I have stumbled accross a handful of worrying examples of web rage or cyber bullying. It saddens me to witness that whilst many dedicate often considerable amounts of unpaid time sharing knowledge or pleasure, some see fit to enjoy spending web time insulting or degrading individuals or attempting to devalue their efforts.

Whilst enjoying Stephen Fry's prolific Twittering ( @stephenfry ) I came across a twit from a highly septic individual making bigoted unwelcome remarks. By using social networks you are exposing yourself to potential harm.

The buoyant Drupal open source community clearly has a few rotten apples amongst them, I am sure they are not alone. A dedicated contributor Michelle Cox attracted a rather negative unreasonable post from an irate user. It was superb to see one of the Drupal evangelists Angie Byron ( @webchick ) rise to the occasion by unleashing the positive power of Twitter unleashing an overwhelming wave of appreciation for Michelle In response to the post.

Not everyone is so lucky to have web guardian angels like Webchick. In recent weeks a Maclesfield teenager committed suicide after a sustained rain of bullying via social networking sites like Facebook and bebo. Whilst this is at the more extreme end of cyber bullying we must all be clear, what we type has consequence.

The next time you type a comment, twit or update your status on Facebook, take a moment to think what you are writing and how it might effect it's readers.