I think part of the LJ drama involves people not being aware of proper ettiquite rules (not just net- either). Also, people seem to forget that the majority of human communication does not involve words, and so when you try to have a discussion through solely word-based mediums (such as LJ), there is a huge component that is missing and you have to be careful not to mis-interpret the words you are seeing.

Physical age seems to be irrelevant in both of those points. Often, those who have been "online" longer tend to not have as much trouble as the newer adopters to the medium, but they still slip up every so often.

And yes, you are far too trusting of people. :)