You cannot say you have truly experienced the "joy" of the internet
until you have been flamed. If you've ever been flamed then you understand
how it feels. If not, then don't worry - it will happen and it will not
feel good at all. In fact, on my first flame I wanted to cry ... it was
pretty bad.
Recently I wrote an article and posted it to a moderated list. I
received an incredibly covert letter back which more or less told me I was
worthless, my article was worthless and anyone who agreed with what I had
to say obviously had the intelligence of a small soap dish.
Oh, how I wanted to send back an email mega-blast with enough vile
energy to turn the author of that flame into a small pile of atomic ashes!
I hit the reply button and typed in words which would have reduced my
target to a pile of quivering protoplasm - then I hit delete. Why bother?
Flamers are just waiting for opportunities to send flames. By responding
in like manner, we are just throwing gasoline onto their fires.
- What is a flame?
- A flame is a negative response to an email, newsgroup posting or
instant message which is derogatory and attacking.
- What are the characteristics of a flame?
- A flame is always derogatory. It virtually always personally attacks
the author (not the subject of the email) or the group. They are much
like arrows shot directly for the heart of the writer or another member
of the discussion, and their intention is always to belittle someone.
Sometimes flames can be very subtle and covert. In fact, some flamers
spend countless hours creating messages which seem to be positive but
actually covertly rip one or more group members down.
- What is the best flame ever?
- Check Ultimate Flame.
- How do you tell if a message is a flame?
- Flames are virtually always personal attacks on the author or
another participant in the discussion. Sometimes they are blatant
attacks and sometimes they are very covert, but they are always attacks
on group members or the author of a message.
- Are flames always responses?
- No, an original posting can be a flame. However, they are usually in
response to a posting.
- Do flames serve any useful purpose?
- No. A flame belittles and degrades other human beings. They serve no
useful purpose at all.
- What should be done when a person flames?
- In an email, just ignore the flame. In a newsgroup or other
moderated list, this is where the moderator steps in and exercises his
responsibilities. The moderator might start by calming the group, asking
the flamer to stop, and so on.
- What should be done if a person continually flames?
- In a group it is essential that the person be banned. Otherwise,
your group will eventually degrade and fall apart as people tire of
being insulted. Never put up with flamers in a group.
In an email, add the person to your spam filter list so you don't get
his messages anymore.
- How do you tell if a message is a flame?
- It contains a personal attack against someone or some people in the
group.
- Are all heated messages flames?
- No. Only those that contain attacks against group members. It is
okay and actually important that groups have heated discussions now and
then. This is a part of communication. It is also important that people
have good manners. There is no need to yell, scream at, degrade or
belittle other human beings.
One good example of a group that got very heated was the Yahoo Club
WebRingNews. The moderators of the group did not understand the
difference between intelligent, adult, heated discussion and flames, so
they simply banned everything they didn't agree with or that seemed
controversial.
A good moderator encourages debate. A bad moderator allows flames to
continue.
- What is a flame war?
- Flame wars are a series of messages and replies which are
more-or-less mud slinging matches. Someone will post a message and get a
flame as a response. He will flame back. This will go on for a while and
others will join in on the fun. Before long you may have dozens,
hundreds or even thousands of vile messages flying back and forth.
- What kind of people flame?
- Well, we probably have all flamed occasionally in our internet
lives. I know in the heat of the moment I've written some emails which I
later wishes I could retrieve.
A flamer, however, is person who lives to flame. That's what he or she
wants to do. They enjoy degrading other people.
So what kind of people are flamers? People who are not worth responding
to because they have no respect for anyone, including themselves.
- What should we do about flamers?
- Pity them.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.
