[Air-l] Reflections on flame wars.

[david silver]

On Thu, 17 Jan 2002, jeremy hunsinger wrote:

> I think that sometimes we might be thinking of flaming in a negative
> context though, it can be, but really for some it is a highly polished
> artform which has a variety of social purposes.  It takes a certain
> skill with words to generate an applicable insult, and that should be
> appreciated for what it is sometimes, but also it can be appreciated as
> a way of normalizing a channel or newsgroup, etc.

I'm with Jeremy.  I'd also add that the existence of a full-throttled
flamewar can be evidence of an online environment's maturity.  It takes
a certain amount of committment (not to mention energy!) to flame.

david silver
http://faculty.washington.edu/dsilver/