Are Flame Wars A Good Thing?

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Originally Posted by peggygee

From an economic standpoint, are flame wars good?

Do they get more feet under the seats. Do more people come to
the board, and perhaps make purchases, etc?

Or is is more like a bunch of people looking at car accidents, with many
of them being turned off by the gore and carnage.

Botton line, are flame wars, good for the bottom line?

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Well, unlike car accidents, most folks that respond to a flame war tend to be rooting for one side or the other.

I don't think it effects the "bottom line" any more than simpering spamlike attention getting threads do.

Forums that are engaging bring in the people. Fights and fluff don't really affect it unless that ALL the forum becomes.

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Originally Posted by insert_namehere

Agreed... If you put two people in a room, at some point they will disagree. Put three people in a room and at some point, there will be a clique (at least on an issue) and an outsider. From that point on, it's a numbers game.

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Actually, when I'm alone in the room, there's usually a clique and an outsider.... :roll: :wink:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peggygee

From an economic standpoint, are flame wars good?

Do they get more feet under the seats. Do more people come to
the board, and perhaps make purchases, etc?

Or is is more like a bunch of people looking at car accidents, with many
of them being turned off by the gore and carnage.

Botton line, are flame wars, good for the bottom line?

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Certainly for traffic on the board they're good: no need to state the recent obvious (of which I've steered well clear). If traffic means increased revenue to the site from banner ads and referral links, then yes it's economically good. If however the revenue remains the same but bandwidth costs escalate, then it's not so good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peggygee

From an economic standpoint, are flame wars good?

Botton line, are flame wars, good for the bottom line?

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No. People viewing flame wars rarely click links.

"Flaming is the act of sending or posting messages that are DELIBERATE hostile and insulting, usually in the social context of a discussion board on the Internet. Such messages are called flames, and are sometimes posted in response to flamebait. Flaming is said by some to be 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. Flamers usually call their flames justified attacks."

"A flame may have elements of a normal message, but is distinguished by its intent. A flame is typically not intended to be constructive, to further clarify a discussion, or to persuade other people. The motive for flaming is often not dialectic, but rather social or psychological. Sometimes, flamers are attempting to assert their authority, or establish a position of superiority. Other times, the flamer is simply a closed-minded or biased individual whose conviction that theirs is the only valid opinion leads them to personally attack any "dissenters." Occasionally, flamers wish to upset and offend other members of the forum, in which case they are trolls. Most often however, flames are angry or insulting messages transmitted by people who have strong feelings about a subject. Finally, some consider flaming to be a great way to let off steam, though the receiving party may be less than pleased"

I've noticed a lot of people get angry too easily on these forums. There have been exceptions though, like with Alison, Peggy, Wendy etc

Flame wars probably help keep the flamers alive. Mouths like theirs would land them face down on a barroom floor, or in a alley with a bullet in them. Online they can spout their venom with no real consequences. If any of the full time flemers here want to comment, go for it. Can't see any reason to put any value on what you say, but if it makes you feel good, or macho, or bitchy, have at it.