Online Etiquette: Or lack of it. I've always wondered about those online guestbooks that are attached to obituaries these days. Even the printed obituaries in the newspaper often have instructions to "sign the online guest book at ...." Knowing how the physicians on the email discussion listserves stoop to name calling and prickly insults, one would think that inviting people to comment online about the lives of others would be an invitation to vitriol. It is, according to this story. Those online guest book companies devote 30% of their budget to deleting lines like this:

"I sincerely hope the Lord has more mercy on him than he had on me during my years reporting to him at the Welfare Department."

"She never took the time to meet me, but I understand she was a wonderful grandmother to her other grandchildren. "

“Reading the obit, he sounds like he was a great father. His son Peter.”

Those are the milder (and funnier) ones. Some accuse the dead of molestation or accuse the living of being responsible for the death. The internet - the great revealer of what truly lies in the hearts of men.