One thing i dislike about LJ in comparison to Usenet (aside from the limited-time thing) is that a lot of discussions take place on a given person's private journal, where there is the potential for a 'lively' discussion to be cut off with a "this is my journal and i'll say what i like" veto, which i've seen happen a few times. It's kind of like the difference between debating a contentious issue with someone down the pub versus being a guest in their living room, which can limit its usefulness as a means of discussion.
That aside though, the potential for people to be bigger arseholes online than they'd ever dare offline is probably a common feature of any net-based forum.
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One thing i dislike about LJ in comparison to Usenet (aside from the limited-time thing) is that a lot of discussions take place on a given person's private journal, where there is the potential for a 'lively' discussion to be cut off with a "this is my journal and i'll say what i like" veto, which i've seen happen a few times. It's kind of like the difference between debating a contentious issue with someone down the pub versus being a guest in their living room, which can limit its usefulness as a means of discussion.
That aside though, the potential for people to be bigger arseholes online than they'd ever dare offline is probably a common feature of any net-based forum.