A
flame war is a series of
flaming messages in an electronic discussion group or
message board[?] system such as
usenet or
mailing lists. There are a number of characteristics of
electronic communication which have been cited as being conducive to flame
wars. Electronic communications do not easily transmit facial expressions or
voice intonations which may serve to moderate the tone of a message. Also, there is typically a
lag time between the time a message is transmitted and the time a reply is read. These two characteristics can cause a "positive feedback loop" in which the emotional intensity of an electronic exchange increases to extremely high levels.
Alternatively, flame wars may be instigated deliberately by
Internet trolls.