Job Discussion Forums

[flaxmac]

Hi,
Sorry I am not familiar with some of the terms used in the guide lines.
What is flaming and trolling?
Thanks.

[ls650]

Flame = insulting post that avoids the topic under the discussion.
Trolling = deliberately making posts to incite flames and arguments.

[flaxmac]

Thanks, I dont think I would even think of writing something like that.

[JimDunlop2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming

And if you're too lazy to click the linky, here's an excerpt.

Flaming is the act of posting messages that are deliberately hostile and insulting, usually in the social context of a discussion board (usually on the Internet). Such messages are called flames, and are often posted in response to flamebait. Flaming is one of a class of economic problems known as The Tragedy of the Commons, when a group holds a resource (in this case, communal attention), but each of the individual members has an incentive to overuse it.

Example: Man, anyone who doesn't know what flaming is, has GOT to be the dumbest ape alive!!!

Trolling:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

In the context of the Internet, a troll is a person who posts inflammatory messages intended to cause a disruption in discourse. The word is also often used to describe such messages.

[stillnosheep]

I loved the tragedy of the commons explanation.

Of course the problem is exacerbated by the fact that as soon as one person or group starts to abuse/overuse the common resource, the incentive of other (opposing?) persons and groups to do likewise is increased.

So how to keep Rhylees on a short leash to prevent his eating ALL the grass and fouling ALL over the cafe?