This is an amazing article. I sad I missed it until now.

As someone who has spent way too much time in chatrooms/IRCs/forums it's really interesting and unsettling to read this because it is so familiar. Being abrasive because you're bored. Check. Simply calling someone retarded or stupid or poop-face instead of actually talking or having an argument. Check. Knee-jerk reactions or quick sentiments that may or may not fully relay your intended opinions or your actual thoughts. Check.

Especially in IRC and live chat rooms, the conversation tends to move very quickly, and about 10 things are happening at once. If you don't drop in your 10 word opinion quickly, and the conversation has moved on.

Also, [place regurgitated "the anonymity of the internet brings out different sides of people" here.]

So while this is a really interesting read, I don't think anyone should necessarily pass judgement on Snowden himself by reading these words. This is a reflection of his online personality that may or may not reflect any of his actual personality.