When this happens, flames erupt. A flame is a particularly nasty, personal attack on somebody for something he or she has written. You get the idea. Every so often, a discussion gets so out of hand that somebody predicts that either the government will catch on and shut the whole thing down or somebody will sue to close down the network, or maybe even the wrath of God will smote everybody involved. Film at 11.
Flame wars can be tremendously fun to watch at first.
They quickly grow boring, though. Flamers are not the only Net.characters to watch out for. Often, these messages relate to various ethnic conflicts around the world. Frequently, there is no conceivable connection between the issue at hand and most of the newsgroups to which he posts. Some people attempt to refute these people with facts, but others realize this only encourages them.