Interpersonal interactions represent a significant aspect when talking about communities. Numerous studies have been done on this type of interaction and its affect on the participants. Research on the phenomenon of flaming has been done (Kayany, 1998, Carstarphen and Lambiase, 1998) to examine the role of criticism in online communities and the importance of the context of this criticism. These studies indicate the flaming has more to do with an individual personality than with the medium of computers. Additionally, despite suggestions that virtual communities are not "real" communities because confrontation can be avoided with the flick of a switch (Fernback and Thompson, 1995), a study by Dsilva, Maddox, and Collins (1998) points to a more robust persistence of members.

Unfortunately, many researchers extol the virtues of the Virtual Nation without objective study. Papers by Schwartz (1998) and Hauben and Hauben (1998) extol the virtues of the new community as a haven for the intellectual, freed from the fetters of the flesh. Somewhat more objective, Rheingold (1993) cites his own experiences with the WELL project to support the idea of online communities as "real" communities. This tendency to glorify the Virtual Nation for its freedom from physical prejudices misleads one into a belief that the society created online is a new utopia. However, physical appearance is not the only cause of prejudice, hate, and violence - all injustice and crime begins in the mind. Elimination of non-verbal cues can promote misunderstanding among the uninitiated, leading to less than intellectual encounters.