[Air-l] Re: Flame Wars

[Alex Kuskis]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nancy White" <nancyw at fullcirc.com>
To: <air-l at aoir.org>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 2:25 PM
Subject: [Air-l] Re: Flame Wars


> I'm wondering about the distinction between "Flame Wars" and the ongoing
> occurrence of conflict in online group interactions. Heck, conflict
> happens. Sometimes it escalates to what would be an argument F2F. Is that
a
> flame war? Or is that a relic of previous time.
>
There are over 100 theories of group formation and interaction in f2f
groups.
Perhaps the most famous of the sequential stage theories of group
development
was proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965; he stated that groups evolve through
4 stages, which he labeled: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing
(Tuckman,
1965: 384-399).  His research was based on studies of therapy groups, human
relations training groups, laboratory-task groups and natural groups. A
fifth and
final stage - Adjourning - was added by him later (Tuckman, 1977).

 1 Forming - Members become oriented to each other & the task at hand.
    Dependency on the leader & testing of behaviour appear.
2 Storming - Members find themselves in conflict & its management becomes
the focus. Antagonism & turmoil appear.
3 Norming - Rules of behaviour appropriate to the group, & necessary for the
task are spelled out. Period of cohesion & cooperation appear.
4 Performing - Group works as a unit to achieve goals & accomplish the task.
Solutions appear.
5 Adjourning - Termination of tasks & disengagement from relationships.
Group disbands.

Many of the other theories agree that sooner or later in f2f groups, there
is
dissatisfaction and/or conflict. Some contend that this is a necessary stage
before groups can accomplish their goals. Some of the writers on online
learning have concurred and suggested that online groups go through
similar stages of group development. Now, "storming" need not take the
extreme form of flaming, but disagreement, and resolution of conflicting
positions appears to be normal whenever groups attempt to work together,
whether f2f or online. While in my experience, flaming is rare (except in
newsgroups), it is not unheard of and one should not be surprised if it
happens..................Alex

Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental Sequence in Small Groups.
Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399.
 Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M.A. (1977). Stages of small group
development revisited. Group and Organization Studies, 2, 419-427.

Alex
Alex.Kuskis at utoronto.ca