Copied from >>>8ch/txt/531:
Off the top of my head... On the internet there's no time limit, which means that a debate can keep going virtually forever, until at least one of the participants gives up. The fact that you can't look the other person in the eyes and have to rely on text to communicate means that you're simultaneously more inclined to use harsh words and to misinterpret his words as harsher than he meant them to be (the same is true for your opponent).

Unlike a debate in real life, which happens in real time, a debate on the internet doesn't necessarily keep a fixed pace; there will be times where your opponent will reply to your posts almost immediately, and others where you have to wait days. All of this makes the activity of debating even more psychologically and emotionally stressful than it already is.

Add to that the fact that the participants seldom happen to be experts on the subject matter; rather, they know just enough about something to have an opinion on it and they lack a proper understanding of their opponent's position; increasingly driven by anger and a general disregard for truth, they'll twist facts to support their arguments and resort to every sophism under the sun to undermind their opponent's.

The result is often a clusterfuck of epic proportions that leaves everyone feeling frustrated and less human than they were at the beginning.