Communication is reduced to it's elemental state of the exchange of ideas and concepts. How power and status is gained or lost in open online communities is a question for future research to answer. The types of differences between people that might inhibit relationship formation are hidden. This promotes a sense of group membership, one that is solely dependent on the perceptions of the receiver. Control over impression formation is enhanced in written mediums.
People can select only aspects of themselves that they choose to make public.
There is as yet no empirical evidence supporting the observation that flame wars and love affairs occur in open, interactive virtual communities at a rate higher than what one would find in f2f groups, but there is a growing body of anecdotal reports of this and a widespread awareness of a high frequency of these extreme interpersonal Internet exchanges. Most people are very familiar with communication protocols in the use of the telephone, or a written letter. Not all, however, are adept at writing with the intent of disclosing intimacies previously unexpressed. Text that is conversational in nature, as it exists on the Internet today, is a new phenomenon. These communications can appear colder and much more impersonal than the author intended.