The point is, when anybody adds 'on the Internet' to a statement, it becomes hugely more critical.
"Somebody knows my mailing address."
Now, that is pretty bland. Anybody who drives by your house probably can figure that out quickly.
But change that to "Somebody on the Internet knows my mailing address" and it's time to pee down your pants leg.
It's similar in so many ways to the magic of patenting something by tacking 'on the Internet' on the end.
I've been 'online' for decades, going back to the BBS era. I was active on a local social BBS back in the late 80's. We got together on Sundays to play softball.
Everybody was so fricking scared to present themselves to the other people they were playing softball with using anything but their 'handles.'
There's something weird that happens when you allow people pretend to themselves that they have anonymity. No other explanation makes sense.