Forum Moderators: rogerd
1. Teen focused subject matter - not all teens are volatile all the time (as a father of 2 teens knows) but if your subject matter is attractive to teens do you notice increased flammability? For example: Gamer wars? Band fan wars? Other?
2. Sex (all flavors) and gender warfare.
3. Politics.
4. Sports.
5. Competing personal favorites: Linux vs. MicroSmurf? Dogs versus cats? (Keep 'em separate? For mature audiences only?)
Are other flame wars are lurking out there?
Were you ever surprised to discover the flammability of a subject?
Were you ever surprised to discover the flammability of a subject?
6 Start a thread about directories
Authors.
People get very touchy about their favorite authors, and very expressive about their most hated authors. If you ever want to see a friendly books and lit chat degrade into a flaming wreckage of mayhem and bloodshed, just mention "Anne Rice," or "Ayn Rand." It's even worse in Genre fiction discussions. Mention "Robert Jordan" in the wrong place and the reaction can be a Dresden level firestorm.
And God forbid you "censor" someone! ;)
Scott
Thanks, that's exactly the type of 'you may not realize this, but . . .' info that I was hoping would come out.
Any more?
I think just about every community has its flash points. Pick any hobby or special interest, and you'll find people lining up in different camps and bringing a lot of passion to their beliefs. Whether you are discussing pickup trucks or beer, people will push their favorites and disparage the competition.
>>if your subject matter is attractive to teens do you notice increased flammability?
Yes. Conflict can be about anything. This is perhaps an overly broad generalization, but teens tend to be less socialized and more willing to say whatever pops into their heads. There is also less inhibition about posting colorful language. (E.g., Webwork might be thinking, "rogerd is a freakin' idiot", but might actually post, "rogerd, you make an interesting point, but I disagree." A typical teen poster would just say, "rogerd, you are a freakin' idiot. Only a total moron would believe that. BTW, glad you survived the brain transplant - too bad about the monkey, though.") Teen-oriented forums definitely tend toward flaming, though I've found that 99% of teen posters will be fine when expectations are clarified. As in any population, you'll have a few incorrigible troublemakers that require the usual problem-member measures.
[edited by: rogerd at 7:05 pm (utc) on Nov. 29, 2004]
But if you criticise a book that someone likes a lot it can also seem like an attack on a reader's values as well as their tastes. It's nearly as bad as getting into politics and religion, which must be the most flame-worthy topics of all.
I'm never totally surprised to find people getting upset over strange things. No matter what you say, someone is bound to disagree with you at some point.
Hunting. Or ANTI-hunting. Oh yah - been there done that one.
Guns. Owning them, or being forbidden same. Ouch.
The death penalty. Or not. Double ouch.
Pet-wars: which is better, a dog or a cat? Bird? Gecko? Fish? Hard to believe people can get into killing posts over it....
Same-sex marriage. Same-sex ANYTHING. Even the "sniff" of same-sexism....
Militaro-politico stuff. From whichever direction, since 9/11, you just CANNOT say much about it.
I'm sure I can come up with more. I've been a board-habitué since the mid-90s....
Roseart vs Crayola crayons. This was amongst adult women who turned into horrible name calling little girls suddenly.
It was almost too funny. Therewere many others, but this one stood out. The stuff legends are made of.
J.
People tend to participate in forums because they feel strongly about an issue or subject, and strong feelings can lead to strong words,
Probably the key thing to do is to moderate well.
Keep an eye out for flame posts, and flame posters. Have a clear set of rules on how to deal with both, and have the rules clearly set out in your TOS.
Lead by example: Moderators should remember to be, well, moderate. Keep on an even keel, and not get dragged into one side or another of a heated debate. Anytime I've seen a board where the moderator weighs in on one side or another of a heated debate, then the whole discussion has gone downhill in a hurry. Without exception.
