Flaming

About

Flaming referes to hostile and insulting interaction between internet users, often involving the use of profanity. Flaming is frequently the result from discussions about heated or controversial topics and issues such as politics, religion, or social structure, but can also be provoked by seemingly trivial differences.

Background

Various theories exist about what may cause flaming. Social researchers have came with several different theories about the phenomenon. A common reason used to explain flaming is the presence of the Online Disinhibition Effect^[1] on the internet, being a loosening or complete abandonment of social restrictions and inhibitions that would otherwise be present in normal face-to-face interaction. Because of the lack of accountability and loss of inhibition during online interactions, people open up more easily and tend to be less guarded about their emotions and opinion. The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory explains this by saying that any well-adjusted individual may display psychopathic or antisocial behaviors when given both anonymity and a captive audience on the Internet.

Spread

As of April 25th, 2010, a total of 23 definitions for flaming have been submitted to Urban Dictionary with the earliest dating back to February 21st, 2003, although they share a variety of definitions. The highest scoring definition was made on March 12th, 2004, by user Arch (shown below).^[2] Additional translations can also be found on Wikipedia^[3] and TechTerms.^[4]

An online argument that becomes nasty or derisive, where insulting a party to the discussion takes precedence over the objective merits of one side or another.

On May 15th, 2005, the Moore’s Lore blog post sharing his past experiences with PARTIcipate in the 1980’s where misunderstandings at times escalated.^[5] On February 20th, 2010, the webcomic xkcd published a comic about a male being unable to get away from the computer because “someone is wrong on the internet” (shown below, left).^[6] On October 5th, 2010, Wired released an article titled “Anger Management for Online Trolls”,^[7] which resulted in Switched covering a similar topic 2 days later in an article titled “Putting Out the Flame War”.^[8]

Flame War

Flame Wars are large, often violent, confrontations between two parties surrounding a specific topic. Unlike a shitstorm where the discussion is caused by an event, in a flamewar the cause was an initial discussion between two parties which over time expanded. During flame wars, the use of private messages, excessive swearing and other rude remarks are a common practice. Flamers may also try to impugn their opponents’ intelligence by highlighting any errors in their adversaries’ grammar or spelling. Flame wars are often seen back through images and image macros in the form of a warning that tells viewers that a flame war is going on.

Flame Trolling

Flame Trolling is an act of trolling in which a person posts a provocative or offensive message with the intent of provoking an angry comment or argument in reply to it. This message, known as “flamebait”, commonly ivolves a topic the poster has no real interest in. While flame trolling can be the result of legitimate debates, it commonly is done for the sole purpose of personal entertainment and in order to cause harm to others.

Search Interest

External References