[karaterobot]

It's not unprecedented, but it's not the same as it ever was. Because there aren't as many sharply defined and well-understood rules, protocols, and hierarchies today, people feel the awkwardness of social interaction without rules or a script. By connecting every group to every other group, mass communications removed a lot of borders and barriers, and the internet multiplied or exponentiated that effect. Clearly that has had some positive effects, but just as clearly some negative ones, of which I think this is an example.