Flaming has come to refer to almost any mail insult. Originating in usenet, flames were carefully honed responses to real or perceived insults; sarcastic, artistic, often literary in allusion. The art has long since disappeared, and flame wars can be abusive, aggressive and unpleasant exchanges in newsgroups, mailing lists and email. They are a serious reminder that it is vital to think before mailing; an insult cannot be withdrawn.
The word flaming is also sometimes used for long, intensive and heated discussions, even though insults do not occur. (Wikipedia)
flame ~ n. insulting criticism or remark meant to incite anger
Flaming is one of the curses of the internet - and yet how many people who have ever joined in a discussion can say they have never flamed - or at least been tempted? First, you read something really stupid, then you think of a neat response ... before you can say "What have I done?" the message has been posted; you are in a Flame War.
Flame War: a barrage of postings in response to one poor sap who spoke out of turn. Traditionally, this takes place in a News Group - someone phrases something rather tactlessly, and instead of emailing the poor sap with a hint that the mistake should be acknowledged, everyone mails the whole group. Pretty stupid, really, as half the flames are simple insults, with no reference to the reason for it. Flame wars start because people press the reply button, instead of writing direct. Once started, the cause is often lost in the midst of insults, and loyalties change as insults get stronger and all inclusive.
Flame wars can take place in any news group, and even on mailing lists. Anywhere with an audience, really. The serious forms of flaming occur in alt.flame and other reserved sites; if the war hots up in your group, you can always cross roast to them. But that is for the experts: either lurk in the background for a while or prepare to be bruised.
http://www.flayme.com/flame/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_war
3 comments:
During your research did you find any other words that were as strong as 'flaming' that went along with either good or poor netiquette?
Flaming, and arguing on the internet needs to be attempted the same way we would argue in real life. Does Flaming mostly happen within companies who are in different locations? Does it happen within the same building? I’m wondering what kind of conflict styles people adapt to when “flaming.” I can’t imagine these individuals wanting to interact directly when in conflict? Has it been found that when people flame in emails they somewhat hide behind their computer?
In your research, did you find any study that was done to give advice to people on how to read an e-mail and not take what was written the wrong way to avoid "flaming?" Maybe an experiment to find out what reactions people give to certain words or phrases?
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