Just like on some virtual playground, bullies emerge from the murk of online communities.

Readers of this column know that I am unabashedly excited about social media. Far from destroying the very fabric of human interaction as many Luddites feared, Web 2.0 did for socializing what photography did for art: setting it free (for a more eloquent look at this topic, check out Chad Lorenz’s Slate article, “Death of Email,”). And one of the most interesting phenomena of the 2.0 world is how some people create web fame—or notoriety.

There are a number of ways to draw a distinction between web celebrity and web notoriety, but for the purpose of this argument, I define a web celebrity as someone who speaks from a platform of their own creation—bloggers like Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei, Internet TV star Sufei of Sexy Beijing or even the legendary agent-provocateur himself, the ChinaBounder. Web notoriety, by contrast, is when someone becomes well-known in a web community not of their own making. The charmingly abusive poster, Herojuana, who has authored more than 7,000 entries on the That’s Beijing forums, cannot be considered a web celebrity, but has undeniably achieved a degree of infamy in that online community. His posts, like the following observation on the subtle differences between Beijing’s English-language listings magazines (People-who-were-originally-apathetic-towards-it-will-now-read-it./The-dull-and-dimwitted-will-like-it./Don't-get-me-wrong,,,,that's-beijing-is-a-crap-magazine...but-shittyweekend-is-LOADS-worse) employ an e. e. cummings-like refusal to abide by the rules of punctuation combined with the lilting, sometimes violent tone of a drunk trying to fight an entire bar. Like the bully in junior high or the alcoholic brother-in-law at a family reunion, posters like Herojuana add critical elements of conflict and complexity that keep online forums interesting.

Most people who achieve web notoriety follow a similar pattern: they are confrontational and post prolifically. Others, however, manage it in different ways. One remarkable example is the Amazon reviewer, Mister Quickly, who uses the medium of Amazon.com’s product reviews as a canvas for some of the best comedic writing being produced at present. His droll reviews range from thoughts on books like “Caring For Your Miniature Donkey,” to assessments of ox bile supplements and anus simulators. Amidst scores of painfully sincere reviews of "Female Masturbation: Every Woman's Orgasm is Unique," Mister Quickly offers his own insights.

I found some of these orgasms rather blase. Ridicule me if you like, but I've been an active participant in countless female orgasms, and can therefore speak with utmost authority on the subject. Despite my jaded outlook, I recently encountered an orgasm which caused me to stand up and take alarm. It involved a douche composed of pea soup—and forgive me for being frank—but it really produced a remarkable effect. I am despondent that the filmmakers decided to abstain from a more experimental approach such as occurred in the genesis of this aforementioned orgasm.

Though perhaps not the most helpful for purchasing decisions, Mister Quickly’s collection of reviews represent a new literary genre, delivered unto us via the Web 2.0 world (For a hilarious and totally unproductive hour of reading, check out Mister Quickly’s entire collection.

In China, the most notorious web jerk is almost certainly Nanheyangrouchuan. The commenter (called “a troll” by some) has become one of the most divisive figures in the Chinese blogosphere (despite only very recently starting a blog of his own—the controversially named badbadchina.blogspot.com for his consistent China-bashing on the country’s most popular English sites. The anonymous American poster has become such a figure in online discussions that, despite being largely reviled by Chinese and foreigners alike, he was recently interviewed by Dan Washburn at Shanghaiist.com and featured in an article on Chinalawblog.com.

Nanheyangrouchuan claims to serve an important role in China discussions by exposing truths about the country that “blind panda-lickers” choose to ignore. This claim has been met with varying degrees of indignation from other commenters. One poster on China Law Blog summed up the feelings of many others, writing, “Jesus Christ! Nanheyangrouchuan is not complicated. He is [Joseph] Conrad if Conrad were an obnoxious self-important idiot.” However, even at his most unacceptable, the notorious poster brings a certain value to online discussions—even if just to give the rest of us cause to articulate why living in the Heart of Darkness isn’t so bad. 

• Jonathan Haagen