Check Availability Admin. Flaming is a long-standing net tradition, complete with its own distinctive rituals, jargon, customs, and dynamics. The net police, as they've been nicknamed, take it upon themselves to flame others who violate group norms. The typical flame points out the offending behavior and may suggest a more socially acceptable alternative.
Flames can range from mild rebukes to venomous personal attacks.
Flamers may use devices like humor, irony, and sarcasm to make their point, though profanity and name-calling are not uncommon. Certain phrases, like get a clue and get a life, have become nearly proverbial in flame mail. Posters joke of putting on asbestos longjohns if they expect their remarks to elicit considerable flamage. Some types of flames are so common, they've been given their own names. A dictionary flame corrects a definition or questions the use of a term, sometimes as a tactic for sidetracking the central issue under debate.