"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person," said Oscar Wilde. "Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth." If this is true, Internet message boards, with their immovable masks of anonymity, should be places of unrivaled candor. But then what to make of Old Dutch? In a calmer moment, he describes himself as "a vegetarian who opposes the killing of anything," and adds, "I don’t hate people, whatever race, colour or religion." Bloodthirsty brawler or vegetarian pacifist? It’s impossible to know which Dutch is real.

If Wilde was right, however, then there are an awful lot of twisted, scary people out there — at least if the postings on ItsHappening are anything to go by. Messner, for one, says he is "ashamed and disgusted" by the number of "kill-the-camel-jockey" postings he sees on the board. "It’s pathetic," he writes. "[It] enforces the horrible stereotypes the world has come to associate with ‘The Americans.’ "

Yet the level of rage on ItsHappening is nowhere near as intense as it was in the immediate aftermath of September 11. Messner has often described his board as a "sociology experiment," and it does offer us some interesting insights into America’s response to the events of 9/11 (at least as represented by the kinds of people who are given to frequenting message boards). Indeed, the site could be seen as a sort of barometer, a register of the nation’s gradual recovery from the terrorist attacks.

In September 2001, the postings on ItsHappening suggested that the world had gone completely mad. Messages were generally written in all caps, as if screamed, and contained the most vile, profane outpourings of bloodlust. Back then, any statement that didn’t toe the God-bless-America line, no matter how innocuous, would incite a flurry of insults and death threats. Today, although hate-spewing extremists are still plentiful on the board, you get the sense that their hearts aren’t really in it anymore — at least not to the extent that they were in the days and weeks after September 11.

These days, the most vehement anti-American voices on the board are as often gently mocked as they are violently abused. "Oh behave!" writes one regular in response to a posting by a self-proclaimed Islamic radical. "You lil’ terrorist you." Another poster inquires, in mock horror, whether "Al Qaeda might fly this message board into the Microsoft HQ." A year ago, such quips would have been unthinkable.

"The rage has subsided somewhat," writes Messner. "Now the overall mood is lighter — even the hostiles will occasionally exchange a humorous swipe at the enemy. But, knowing that if they ever met they would immediately kill each other brings a chill back to the overall tone."

Perhaps. Yet there’s no escaping the fact that today the site very often reads like some sort of Al Qaeda Love Connection, or that some of the most chilling exchanges on the board take place between regulars who, over time, have developed run-of-the-mill grudges. These days, instead of a clash of cultures, you have clashing egos.

In the process of researching this article, for instance, I started a thread asking for people’s thoughts on the ItsHappening message boards. Before long, the thread had devolved into a furious spat between two long-time antagonists, Roman Agenda and CentaurMyst. "Know what," CentaurMyst wrote as the argument raged on, "if you don’t like me being here, then fucking leave." Within an hour, Roman Agenda had stated his intention to do just that.

"This is another reason I love this site," wrote Jim. "I picture CM and RA, all red-faced, sitting at their computers, hitting the keys on their keyboards really hard and typing as fast as they can. I just love you guys!" Other regulars were less enthusiastic. "Ah, you whiney fucks are pathetic," wrote Watchful I. "My neighbor’s dog leaves more intelligent piles on my yard than you do here in the forum."

Today, there is an ongoing debate on ItsHappening as to whether it has outlived its usefulness — whether the site is, to put it bluntly, in danger of disappearing up its own ass. Regular visitors say they’re getting fed up with the silly flirting, the incessant bickering, the chat-for-chat’s-sake mentality that’s becoming increasingly prevalent on the boards. "The site was so vibrant and full of intelligent people to learn from and discuss things with," laments Roman Agenda. "Now ... well it’s pretty sad at best."

In recent weeks, several regulars — some of whom have been posting since the site’s early days — have taken Roman Agenda’s lead and said they’re quitting ItsHappening for good. When a rival message-board operator came sniffing around the site recently ("i am here trying to steal visitors"), he was swiftly pounced on by Regis, Jon Messner’s online alter ego. "Go find yer own hate mongers," Regis wrote. "These are mine!" It was a funny line, but you wondered whether there wasn’t a hint of panic behind it.

Two days after that exchange, on September 17, a long-time ItsHappening member named Alexis joined the exodus. "I’m leaving this site," she grumbled. "I’ve had my fill of conspiracy theories and knuckleheads and pissing contests." Less than a week later, Alexis was back. "That’s bullshit," she wrote in response to someone who claimed Islamic warriors are nobler than their American counterparts. "Mujihad fights for his ideology just like any other combatant."

Her fellow brawlers quickly and warmly welcomed Alexis back into the fray.

Chris Wright can be reached at cwright[a]phx.com