I found this in cyberspace, posted by a former student:

“Leiter’s wry wit comes across as much more abrasive when he puts it into writing. In person he’s much friendlier, much more of a good-natured and self-deprecating mensch type than his blog would imply (although I don’t know him really well, only as a student). I was a bit surprised once I started reading his blog, I kept thinking ‘is that the same guy I know?’”

It indicates how much is lost when there is no intonation, pacing, tempo, no facial or bodily gesture accompanying the language–just words, words on a computer screen, flying by, flying by….

UPDATE: A regular reader e-mails to ask, “Surely you intend to be harsh with the various reactionary fools you skewer?” Of course the answer to that is “yes.” When it comes to dumb right-wing villains–in public life or in the blogosphere–I’m not an affable fellow, and wouldn’t want to be. That suggests, of course, that another part of the explanation for the divergence between human persona and blog persona, noted above, is that my classes deal with substantive intellectual matters, legal and philosophical, not political ones; and that my own views on political questions are neither appropriate nor relevant in the pedagogical setting.