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From: faigin@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Daniel Faigin)
Newsgroups: net.news.group
Subject: Purpose of Net.Flame (Summary - I of III)
Message-ID: <2115@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 5-Jul-85 16:45:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.2115
Posted: Fri Jul  5 16:45:37 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 8-Jul-85 05:28:54 EDT
Reply-To: faigin@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Daniel Faigin)
Organization: System Development Corp. R+D, Santa Monica
Lines: 123
Summary: Extraction of purposes of net.flame from messages recieved.


[DPF speaking...  Although it has only been a  couple  of  weeks  since  my
request  went  out,  due  to  the tremendous response I have gotten, I have
decided to summarize whenever my condensed reply file gets  to  around  300
lines or so.]

Before we can look at what net.flame is for, we must first understand  some
basics.  According  to the USENET documentation, (e.g., the messages posted
by Gene each month), the purposes of net.flame are:

1.  For flaming on any topic. 
2.  Normal  standards  of  courtesy  are  not observed here.

If we use the definition of "flame" in the Hacker's  Dictionary,  we  would
thus arrive at the following definition for the purpose of net.flame:

1. a place for speaking  incessantly  and/or  rabidly  on  some  reletively
uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude.

The replies that I have received to date have been many  and  varied.  Some
could  fall  into  the  above definition.  Some are *way* off the mark.  It
looks like much of the  problem  with  net.flame  is  that  people  do  not
understand what it is for.

The summary posted today consists of three parts.  This part (I) is a  true
summary  of  the  basic  points made about the purpose of net.flame.  Since
some of them a basically repeats of others, I have only numbers  the  first
occurrance  of  semi-unique  or  significant ones.  The next message in the
summary (II) is my personal commentary on the  messages  received.  Lastly,
part III is a condensed and reformatted version of the messages received to
date.

Net.flame is...

1. a place to flame or  criticize  any  topic,  statement,  or  person  who
bothers you.  These criticisms need not have a basis in logic.

2. a place to let out anger, frustration, hate, and other emotions.

3. a place to rant and rave.

4. a place to try satire, or off the wall ideas, knowing that  the  readers
won't be too offended if they don't see what you were trying to say.

5. a place for people who feel a need to be abusive or offensive.

6. a place to have pointless arguments that don't belong  in  a  particular
newsgroup.

7. a place to send stuff that would be considered unreasonable in any other
group.

8. a place for bored people to have fun,  vent  general  frustrations,  and
generally mess around.

9. a place  where angry people get sent from other newsgroups so  they  can
yell  at  each  other  rather than at people who don't like angry people in
other newsgroups.

10. a  place  to  provide  articles  serving  as  sparks  to  start  heated
discussions, possibly quite silly, i.e. women's use of toilet paper.

11. a place to allow a no-holds-barred discussion of anything.

12. it is not a place for pre-emptive, abusive, personal  attacks,  or  any
stupid  tomfoolery or drivel anyone chooses to post, nor was it designed to
encourage it.

13. a safety valve to keep the rest of the net relatively civil.

14. A place where people play the game of erecting personnas that
they would never use in a real world face to face situation.

Other opinions are...

a place to absorb heated arguments from other groups which have  become too
acrimonious or voluminous to stay where they started.

a place serving as a  catharsis  where  people  posting  articles  in  this
newsgroup  should  consider themselves open game for any sort of abuse from
anybody.

a place serving as a source of enjoyment for people  such  as  myself,  who
don't post to the group, but sit back and watch the mud slinging across the
screen for a lighthearted break.

a place that has no purpose.

a place for all the uninhibited graffitti that would  otherwise  be  posted
elsewhere.

a place to allow people to vent frustration, anger, and other emotions that
would be inappropriate to other news groups.

an overflow point for arguments.

a place for satirical humor.

a place for messages with whine content.

a place for articles which are complaints, harangues, criticisms, which are
usually more emotional than logical.

it is not a place for written abuse of other netters.

a place for discussions started in other groups to go to when they got  too
long, drawn out and noisy, and or became arguments rather than discussions.

a place to vent their rage,  e.g.,  a  sort  of  electronic  primal  scream
therapy.

To be continued...

Daniel
-- 
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