How do I forget a flame war?
It depends on the situation, but apologizing as A Terrible Llama said might work. It’s also possible that you have generated enough hate that you can’t re-integrate into the community. If it’s that bad, you might want to consider emailing the forum moderators and ask if you can start fresh with a new account. It keeps me up at night, I find my unchecked inner dialogue composing replies to the original argument, wanting to bring up the argument with my friends and family so I know they ‘back me up.’ Combating this feeling is the key to a flame-free life. You need to be able to agree to disagree. The vast majority of the time, internet arguments reach a point where no amount of debating will reach any kind of happy conclusion or compromise. I hate arguing on the Internet in general, so I have the following rules for myself: 1. If I call someone out, I make sure to not be a jerk about it. I try to present my points as diplomatically as possible. 2. If someone calls me out, I defend myself
I belong to a very peaceful internet community. Our flame wars are possibly too gentle to apply to whatever you went through, but some people have been banned or have left. My observation: 1) The ones who consistently made valuble contributions were greatly missed. When they apologised and came back, everyone was happy to see them again. 2) After they came back, the same problem would often occur, and they’d have to leave again. Over the years I’ve been able to meet many of the people in this community in real life, including the “annoying” people, and I’m always struck by how people aren’t necessary like their online personas. Some people are simply awkward in print. So think about how you come across in print, and try again.
