An affliction that causes
people to say things to
people over the distance of an Internet connection that, if they ever DARED to say to a person in a face-to-face conversation, would likely result in them getting knocked on their ass and
maybe a trip to the hospital, but behind the safety of their monitor where nobody can physically touch them, they can behave
like complete and utter shitbirds with no consequences, because as we all know, the Internet isn't real, of course, and the person you're mouthing off to isn't a real human being, with emotions of their own.
It is closely related to the similar affliction that causes
people to become total sociopaths when behind the wheel of a car, where they are similarly safe from physical retribution.
If the technology were invented
tomorrow to make it possible to punch a person in the face over TCP/IP, Internet Badass Syndrome would vanish almost
overnight, and the Internet would be the most civil, polite place
ever.