Do Social Sites Make Us Nicer?

Do social network sites make us better people?

Pete Cashmore from mashable.com argues that they might.

Cashmore writes that the “immediacy and accessibility of Twitter messages that make private conversations public; tools that open up the very real possibility that every action you take, whether in a public space or in seemingly private emails and text messages, is being logged and possibly shared with thousands of people… How does this change the way we act? Might it actually make us…nicer to one another?”

The author then cites several recent events where bad behavior was broadcast on social sites and called out, resulting in web-wide discussions on behavior.

Is this the dawn of a new social conscience?