Internet communications bring out worst in people

Someone recently told me that the growth of the Internet will eventually lead to world peace, because it will facilitate communication between people of different nations, cultures, and beliefs.
People will make friends on-line; and if everyone has friends throughout the world, war will no longer be possible.
This seems a little absurd to me, but it’s nothing new. When telegraph was introduced, some people predicted the same thing; a new era of better communications would lead to better understanding and an end to war. Of course, a few decades later the world entered the 20th century, and…