What is a flame war and what can be done to help prevent them?
A Flame War is when an online discussion degenerates into a heated exchange and a series of personal attacks against the debators, rather than discussion of their positions. Often, a Flame War is intentionally started by a Troll. There’s a difference between a flame war and a discussion. Here are some key differences between the two: 1. There is no name-calling in discussions. Calling someone inflammatory names does nothing for a discussion. 2. A discussion always deals with people sharing thoughts. It may sound corny, but writing “I think” in front of your sentence makes a lot of difference. 3. A discussion can involve 2 people, or 200 people. Anyone can pitch in. But flame wars usually end up being between specific people with different opinions To help prevent a discussion from turning in a flame war: A. Don’t take it so seriously. If there are two people who just can’t seem to settle a dispute, then just agree to disagree. B. If someone responds to a post you wrote with things that
