Politics is most often about discussion and debate. Discussion and debate also happen to be the two things the Internet is most suited for. There are today so many forms of discussion medium on the Net it's difficult to avoid it. Whether you're still using old school Bulletin Board (yes they do still exist (albeit you don't dial in anymore)); spend your time on IRC surfing through DalNet; ride the tidal wave that is Usenet; or simply hang around on web-based forums and comment on blogs, the thing that binds all of them is discussion.
There is a dark side to that discussion though, and that is the flame war. The flame war is a feature of the Internet that one must admire and pay homage to at the same time. A good flame war can go on for days, it can involve serious hardcore discussion of the highest intellectual calibre, to the most vicious invective that would make Bernard Manning blush. The key though is that it will be relentless, there will be sides, no one will ever admit defeat, and, ultimately, no one will actually win other than in their heads.
If you use the Internet (which you obviously do if you're reading this), and you're interested in politics, then you will engage in a flame war eventually. Whether it's mild or wild will depend on the opponents of battle, and it's fair to say that there are many. For the unitiated, these are the flame warriors
4 comments:
I imagine you've seen the less than sensitive comparison between arguing on the Internet and competing in the Special Olympics?
ahhh yes, the classic and no doubt one of the best. Matched only by possibly the guy from Chips or the smiling Jesus.
Yup.... Still, difficult to forget once seen.
Welcome back, you were still in the Spanish blogsphere the last time I checked, now here you are cohorting with the flame warriors - bravo!
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