Similar question about Domestic Violence has been debated many times – I knew every argument and every counter argument by '98. Now all major Social Media Giants are dealing with Verbal Abuse Online.
I believe that abuse is abuse, but an average male keyboard warrior has twice the upper body strength of a female keyboard warrior.
Women have better finger dexterity though and they are often better typists. In heated online duel of rapid-fire insults and witticisms, they may even have the upper hand. It is actually the big, dumb slow ones that have the disadvantage in this form of combat.
Online, how do you know who is who?
I just want to publicly marvel at the poll design here. A triumph.
It’s kind of sexist, but I think men are less vulnerable to verbal abuse.
That upper-body strength helps you hit the keyboard REALLY hard and makes you feel powerful.
There are only like 3 women online anyway, the rest are men pretending to be women.
I am very gentle, but when I am insulted I generally respond in kind due to some deep held ethical principles.
On adult sites.
Now, now. If the Ashley Madison hack has taught us anything, a lot of those ‘women’ are bots, not men.
On the Internet, nobody knows if you’re actually a 93-pound weakling.
It’s not pretending, it’s just how they identify while online.
What deeply held ethical principles might those be? “An eye for an eye?”. "
…cooked with fava beans and with a nice chianti…? 
yes, but as of right now the amount of online abuse is tilted severely towards women.
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you but upon what do you base this assertion?
My first two responses where the following:
Now, I do believe women are more cleverly abusive. Especially in matters involving emotions and conscience thinking (they tend to be more vindictive as well) where as most men tend to be more impulsive and active. Men are stronger than they sometimes realize (considering adrenaline and ways anger can control strength, energy and critical/cognitive thinking processes); though their actions are not justifiable, they do more damage than anticipated. Women are more intelligently demeaning and tend to exaggerate the truth (and believe gossip simply because they were told something extreme whether or not the story was excessive in detail or overly dramatic). In turn men feel inferior intellectually and are burdened with rumors and even lies. No man should physically harm a woman, but no woman should use that to her advantage.
Really the solution lies in parenting and how a child is raised. No adolescent should grow older thinking its acceptable to put forth effort in harassing or bullying another.
And BTW the poll is missing one answer…
If the question that men and women should both be equally punished for online abuse towards the other than it should be assumed that both women and men are equally guilt for online abuse towards the other. I’m guessing this article was written by a woman or feminist (either of which spend too much time online and easily ruled by weakness).
I feel like I just walked into an alternate dimension SDMB. What?
Gender is meaningless. Online verbal abuse is a joke. I have zero sympathy for anyone claiming to be a victim of this. Either develop basic mental fortitude or apply some online tool (e.g., ignore, mute, or squelch) to have offensive text hidden for you.
The only two exceptions to this are slander and threats. If someone is slandering you or your business, or if someone threatens, by social media or personal message, to harm you or your family, then call for legal or police help.
This is my principle. But it is much more complicated – if I can not win a conflict I may avoid it.