That article actually gave me the impression that the Columbine rampage had little to nothing to do with the way these guys were treated at school or online. Harris was quite obviously a sociopath and Klebold seems to have been a mentally ill young man who fell under the spell of his friend.
Does the internet have the potential to make things such as this worse? Maybe. Maybe not. When I was in high school the equivalent to “cyber-bullying” was someone writing a girl’s number on the bathroom wall and calling her a slut, or someone writing on desks that a boy is a loadie or drunk or stupid. While these things didn’t go out over the worldwide web, teenage girls can spread rumors just about as quickly. This type of behavior has always been around and it isn’t going away.
I wonder if online ranting and raving might actually represent a pressure relief valve for folks who may otherwise explode from the head of steam that builds up inside them.