Netiquette Banner Netiquette, by Virginia Shea, page 76

If you receive such a flame, ignore it publicly, thank the sender privately, or gently remind him of the destructiveness of such flames.

The Grammar Flame

A close relative of the spelling flame, grammar flames can be even more treacherous because the rules of grammar are less clearly defined than spelling. Avoid flaming for grammar.

The Bandwidth Flame

The Bandwidth Flame category covers a lot of ground, including flames about posting to the wrong group, posting too many messages to a group, or posting stupid messages. This one usually starts, "Do you know how many gadzillions of people had to read your useless message?" When you issue a Bandwidth Flame, you're actually wasting bandwidth. Such flames should be taken to private email, particularly if the bandwidth waster is a newcomer. Some people are persistent time-wasters: sometimes the only way to make them stop is to turn up the heat publicly. But usually, your Bandwidth Flame will invite a flaming response.

One reason Bandwidth Flames are so common is that people access cyberspace in a variety of ways. Some people are sitting at the end of high-bandwidth T1 links to the net paid for by their employer. Others sit at the end of 2400-baud modem connections that they pay for by the minute. If you have a high-bandwidth connection, be considerate of those who don't. If you have a pay-per-minute connection, don't be surprised when an awful lot of messages seem wasteful.

The Clueless Newbie Flame

This flame results from disparities of knowledge and experience. The clueless newbie stumbles into a discussion group and starts posting stupid questions. Old timers and wizards then flame at will. This is a cheap flame. It's just too easy. All cybernauts begin as newbies. If you're an experienced net citizen, remember that you were a newbie at one point in your net career.

If you're a clueless newbie yourself, check the next flame closely.


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