Notes on Flame Bores...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 3 August 1994

[just for clarification--I started to write this about July 14th. I don't even remember what the point of the argument then was, but it may still be topical, current, and not totally out of date...]

Notes on Flame Bores...
or:
How to Waste Bandwidth and Irritate Everyone

On the networks, flame baiting (posting something deliberately provocative) and flame wars are often dismissed, ridiculed, and prohibited--and far too common.

There is an underlying cycle in these cataclysmic amusements that seems to occur here (also on other network groups, but we're mostly interested in this group). This cycle runs something like:

1. Many, many submissions, crits, and other "writerly" pieces flying (this seems to be a precondition)

2. Someone posts something--a bit provocative, a bit witless, or something. (Note that this often is a posting which would pass by without comment or with very little notice on any other day of the year)

3. For some reason (often inexplicable), someone else responds with a touch of acidity or bitterness. Not especially harsh, but perhaps a bit stronger than the provocation seems to require. Often the response is fired off rapidly after writing it, without much consideration to toning down the irritation.

4. The world goes nuts. Personal attacks, grandstanding, sweeping generalizations, and all the other fallacies and befuddlements come whooshing out of whatever closet they normally are locked in. This is the classic "flame bore" syndrome seen on so many lists.

[This is usually the point where we can really identify the original post as "flame bait." In many cases, it is really a pretty innocent posting--somehow the timing, situation, and other factors have turned a minor irritant into a major trigger.]

5. [patent-pending step found here on WRITERS] Humorous seltzer bottles, laborious sandtraps of illogical analogies, and other patent-pending methods of extinguishing the blazes (or at least burying them under words) are deployed by those members of the list who manage to avoid falling under the influence of the expanding whirlpool of emotive distress. This is relatively unique on the networks. It works surprisingly well--most of our blazes get damped down in a very short time compared to some of the hotheaded conflagrations visible on other lists. Typically avoids the worst of number 6...

6. [common result on many lists] At this point, there is often a slide into flaming exits, calls to "true writers" for some kind of crusade, and other diversionary hazards. Very dangerous, although sometimes the explosive effects do disperse the original minor flickers at the expense of more major damages. (There is a certain grim irony in this step, as step one almost ensures that the "flame bore" starts as a very minor part of current postings).

Not particularly amusing, but I do see this repeated cycle in postings on the list.

My advice to everyone: Hang on when you see one starting and (as far as possible) ignore the flaming bores. Do watch for the occasional sparkling bit of writing or other wonderful fireworks display touched off by the flaming bores, but be careful playing with the embers, as they may burn your fingers.